Evasive Darkness
by yesterdayslorrae
Summary: Leighton goes to sleep and wakes up inside SM's Twilight novel inForks. At first it is an entertaining yet inexplicable dream. But she returns night after night and becomes more entangled in the lives of the characters then she ever thought she would. R
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One – Alice in Wonderland

I woke up in the same manner that I always did; as if being pulled by unwillingly and struggling from a better place. Sleep hung like a heavy veil over my mind as I tried to fathom where I was or who I was. I reached over to the bedside table and pushed the snooze button on the small digital alarm clock that was ringing indignantly. I was sure that it couldn't possibly be morning since I had certainly just laid down in bed and closed my eyes. It couldn't possibly be morning already. I was about to settle back into the waves of sleep when the bedroom door creaked open and an unfamiliar voice pulled me suddenly into full alertness.

"Honey you really should get up or you will sleep through your first day of school." I scrambled as quickly as I could to escape the tangles of the blankets and put the bed between myself and the intruder. The lady looked at me wide-eyed. She was approximately in her late thirties. I based this judgement on the deep laughter lines around her eyes yet lack of frown lines between her eyebrows. I had never been very good at assessing age but I always assumed the frown lines really set in during the forties. She didn't look like your average early morning intruder, though I had never had one before to compare her to. She had large eyes that were a deep blue. The kind that looked like they were deep and the more you looked into them the more lost you became. At the moment they were dancing at me, as if slightly amused by what she was seeing. Her full lips pulled tightly, exposing her large, rather horsey yet perfectly straight teeth. "You are so dull in the morning," she laughed. Opening the door further to show me she was fully dressed in a pair of straight black pants and a purple button down shirt. "Are you orientated enough to tell me if I look ok for my first day? Do you think that they will like me in this? Or eat me alive?"

I could feel my mouth starting to sag slightly as I took in my surroundings. The room I was in was not the room that I remembered going to sleep in. I felt an angry ball of fire form in my chest. It was panic. I felt my breath start to quicken as I looked for anything that was my own. But nothing in this bedroom was like anything in my own. The bed that I had just fought my way out of was a large double bed with a black leather frame and from what I remembered it was comfortable. Not at all like my hard mattress. The room was large, square and had plenty of space to walk between the bed and the book case which was something I was unfamiliar with. The walls were cream and the carpet under my feet was woollen and cream. The furniture was dark teak and there was a computer humming on a desk next to the bookcase. There was a window with the blinds drawn above the desk and behind me.

"Are you alright?" laughed the lady again but her laugh had lost its comical edge and with now laced with genuine concern. I felt slightly ridiculous for thinking that I needed to put a bed between her and me. For one she was obviously not trying to hurt me and secondly she look far more athletic then me anyway.

"I'm fine." I croaked out and I felt relief at finding that my voice, at least, was my own and how I remembered it. "I'm still asleep." I decided and felt the burn in my chest subdue at my realisation that I hadn't been abducted by aliens and put into an alternate universe.

"Well wake up Leighton!" she gestured wildly with her hands. I felt a shock at how she used my name so casually, so familiarly. "Today is very important to the both of us and you need to be awake! I know you don't think Forks is a great choice for a fresh start but I want you to give it a shot."

My whole body stiffened and I felt my jaw slacken again. _Forks?_ I instinctively looked at the book case. It was the only item of furniture that I could relate to having in my room, but unlike the bookcase in my room which was stuffed with worn and much loved books this one was barer. I recognised a few of the spines the Harry Potter series and Marley and Me but it was noticeably bare of the four thick black books that had their own proud place on mine, and pretty much every other teenage girl's bookcase in the world. The Twilight series was not in this dream, which was strange considering I was dreaming I was in Forks. I didn't understand why this lady seemed to think that I had previously (Maybe in another dream that I couldn't remember having) resisted the idea of moving there. I was sure that if my mum had offered to move me to Forks for a "fresh start" I would have more then willingly obliged her wished.

"Argh!" the lady yelled, but it was a theatrical yell, not a mad yell. I paused on that thought of my own mother. She was dark where this lady was light, not in looks, as the both had identical ivory skin tone but in mood. But they both had that same "I'm the boss" aurora around them. I looked at her intently. Was this lady supposed to be a dream version of my mum? I was sure that I had dreamt of my mother before and she had never appeared to me in the form of another person. Sure, sometimes she had taken on the fuzzy, dream-like state where she shape shifted into another person half-way through the dream but another person had never been my mother. This lady was clearly not anything like my real mother.

"I am leaving you to shower and get dressed for school. I expect you to be down stairs before I have to leave!" she continued in her rant, putting on a show of authority. But before she closed the door she said in a smaller voice, "I really need you to wish me luck before I go." Her face turned into a similar look to pleading. I saw that she was nervous of her first day at where ever she was going and I knew then that this was not my own mother that I was dreaming of at all. My mum never showed me a weakness in herself; in fact, besides a moment of two where she looked slightly dismayed at the size of the jeans she was trying on I was quite sure that my mum didn't actually have a weakness... or any feelings at all. I stood for a moment still truly puzzled. I was expecting the dream to begin to turn hazy at any moment, so I stood looking towards the closet doors but they remained in perfect clarity. There was an open door beside them that led to a room with a tiled floor; a bathroom. I walked towards the door, taking extra care in ensuring that each of my feet planted securely on the ground. I didn't actually think that I would make it to the bathroom. I was still counting on the dream to pull me out into another world. But everything was still in sharp focus. It was too sharp. My hands instinctively flew up to touch my face. I wasn't wearing my glasses. They were my common companion since I was nearly legally blind for seeing things far away. I had refused to wear them until I was at least 15 and I had amazed myself at the things I hadn't been able to see clearly. Like the actual shapes of stars; instead of just pricks of lights and I could read street signs from a block away and I could even see cars coming towards me. I hadn't realised that without my glasses I was a walking time bomb. I was just asking for disaster. But now I had no spectacles sitting snugly on my nose but I could see everything around me perfectly clearly. I pulled open my eye lids and gently touched my wet eyeball; but I also had no contact lenses in. I had suspected that already since nobody sleeps in them. Not even dreaming was I that stupid. I looked around the bathroom. There was a deep blue towel hanging on a rack beside a glass shower. Behind the door was a toilet and in front of the door was a sink and above that a medicine cabinet with a mirror. I walked instinctively over to the sink know that if I splashed my face with water I would know beyond any doubt that this was just the most peculiar dream I had ever experienced. I never felt things in my dreams. I mean I felt things; mostly just confusion but I didn't feel the touch of things. If someone held my hand of touch my face I didn't feel it in my dreams. I also usually didn't see colours either but I decided to ignore the fact that the colours of this dream were standing out to me very clearly; almost defiantly.

I rushed to the sink and put my hand out onto the tap. I felt my hands mould around the cold ceramic and I inhaled deeply. It felt as real as anything I had ever touched. I turned it slowly and the pipes groaned in protest. As if they had not be used in a while. Water began to drip from the spout and I turned it more to get a more steady flow. I reached out and dove both my hands into the flow of the water. It was icy cold and I withdrew the out as if they were scolded. I had never in my dreams been able to distinguish between temperatures. Let alone the fact that I had never been able to feel cold water while the rest of my body remained warm. I plunged my fingers back under the flow even though they instantly began to feel freezing. I cupped my hands together until I had captured a small pool of water in my hands and then I through it onto my face. Not bothering to bend over the sink. The sudden cold water shocked my face into tingles and the water sloshed down the front of my shirt and onto the tiles under my feet. I watched for a moment as the water dripped from my chin onto the floor. I was so certain that would have woken me up. Suddenly, after I was quite sure that I wasn't about to wake up any time soon a feeling of curiosity began to overcome my confusion. When did dreams ever make sense anyway? I grabbed the towel off the rack and patted my face dry. I then hung the towel back on the rack and began to leave when I caught my own reflection in the mirror. I looked exactly the same as I always did when I just woke up, my brown hair which originally in a pony tail was now mostly around my shoulders. Only a small portion of the hair was actually in the elastic which was hanging on for dear life. My face was still ivory with the slightest hint of golden in my complexion. The last remains of my sun tan before it faded away with summer. My skin was still oily like always and my cheeks were round. But what had caught my attention was that my eyes, always large and heavily lashed (my mum told me it was to balance out my sharp nose) were now the same deep blue of the lady that had just popped so casually into the room. They were usually hazel, as if undecided if they wanted to be brown or green. They were not a particularly nice colour which I was always disappointed about because my eyes would have almost been pretty if they were not such an ordinary colour. But now they jumped right out of my head. I leaned over the sink so that my head was pushed against the mirror. Despite the fact that I knew they were exactly the same shape and size as my own eyes, and they obviously worked fine, I couldn't see my own face in the mirror. Just the tiny change of eye colour made my whole face seem suddenly foreign. I took one step back from the mirror and turned away from it. I studied the dull tiles on the opposite wall for a minute before turning suddenly back around, as if I could sneak up on my eye colour which was obviously hiding somewhere. But the large blue eyes stared back at me in shock and wonder. I had always wondered what it would be like the have different eyes. But now that my wish was fulfilled they seemed too big and too blue. I quickly walked out into the bedroom again. I suddenly noticed that my feet seemed to prefer the carpet to the cold tiles and I realised that the room was freezing. I could here the light patter of rain on the roof but I couldn't quite bring myself to look outside the window. The books did say that it always rained in forks and secretly I didn't quite want my brain to have to work too hard to invent things for me to look at just in case it went into overload and I woke up or worse my dream turned into some kind of nightmare involving zombies. I opened the closet doors and had a look inside. There were some clothes hanging neatly on the hangers and stashed in the bottom of the cupboard were boxes with the familiar labels of _Leighton's clothes _and _Leighton's stuff_ written on them in large black writing. I had moved houses enough times to hate packing and unpacking with a passion. Even my curiosity couldn't make me look into the boxes; instead I perused the clothes that were already hanging and folded in the draws. I found myself feeling quite satisfied with the selection of clothes I had compiled for myself. I wasn't ever much of a fashionista but I wasn't totally hopeless either. I soon found myself pulling out different pairs of jeans and pairing them on the bed with various sweaters and shirts. I soon found myself pulling off the pair of sweat pants that I had fallen asleep in and I was looking at the label on a nice pair of faded denim jeans. They were two sizes too small but I decided that they must be stretch so I started to pull them on anyway. They slid up easily and I began to like the fact that my dream self had obviously dropped ten pounds as well as had an eye ball transplant. I ripped of my oversized t-shirt and pulled on a dark grey turtle neck. It also fitted snugly and I glanced down and my chest and grinned when I noticed that it too was slightly different – maybe a cup larger. I kicked my pyjamas out of the way and pulled on a pair of socks and black sneakers. There were a pair of pink converse sneakers but it brought me back to the whole "Twilight" dream I was having and I didn't want to dress up like Bella Swan. I stopped for a moment and quickly swung around the room as the thought crossed my mind. But when the room was empty I laughed at even thinking that a dream vampire might have been hiding behind me. I spotted a small backpack sitting on the floor behind the door with a black parka resting on top and suddenly I knew where I must have been going; to school. It seemed so obvious to me now. I had had this dream before. Well, not this exact dream. But something vaguely similar almost each time I moved to a new town and had to start at a new school. I arrived at the school and it was usually daunting, rather fuzzy around the edges and I always woke with more dread then what I went to sleep with. It didn't make sense that I was having this dream now after I had graduated from school; but I just assumed that I must have had something on my mind. I knew that I shouldn't have eaten so much chocolate before I went to sleep. It always made me have wild dreams. I picked up the parka and the bag. It was slightly heavy, already packed. I smiled because obviously this was my dream. I was always packed for school the night before. I felt slightly re-assured as I walked out of the room. The hallway I was in was plain. Again it was cream on cream. There were no pictures or decorations on the wall. The stairs were right in front of me while at the end of the hall there were two closed doors. I assumed that one was my dream mum's room. I decided not to have a look around and headed straight down the carpeted stairs. The lounge room looked more like a house that had just been moved in to. There were bare shelves in the entry room and boxes covering the lounge room floor. I could see into the lounge room to the left and the kitchen to the right from the bottom landing of the stairs. I carefully sat my bag down and parka down on the bottom stair and moved into the kitchen. I decided to test a theory.

"Mrs. Summers?" I asked and then held my breath wondering if I had the same surname that I had in waking life.

"Oh do you think I look like a teacher?" she laughed, looking over from the sink under the window. I tried not to notice the green tree blowing in the slight sleet outside the window. It had thick green foliage and a deep brown bark and wasn't any species I had ever seen before. It certainly wasn't native to Hudson, Texas where I lived. I looked at her over standing over the sink and her questions from earlier sank in. She was a teacher. I wasn't quite sure if I should refer to her as my mum, even though the thoughts in my brain kept jumping to that. The tenderness she had in her eyes when she looked at me was almost exactly the same as my mum. Even if she did look radically different, I decided that she was my dream's version of my mum and she was a teacher.

"I made you some breakfast," she nodded towards two pieces of toast spread with jelly on a plate on the bench. I negotiated my way through two large boxes and a kitchen table in the middle of the cramped space towards the kitchen bench.

"Thanks," I answered automatically as my stomach growled loudly in response. I picked up the warm toast and munched on it as mum finished wiping the dishes.

"I haven't quite figured out how to use the dishwasher," she laughed as she wiped her wet hands on her pants leaving wet hand prints. "Oh shit," she cursed and then grabbed a tea towel to dab her pants dry. I laughed despite myself. She was very endearing.

"Is the outfit ruined?" she asked, holding her arms out and turning around slowly like a manikin.

"No," I said through a mouthful of toast. Then I swallowed it a little too quickly. I could feel it sliding uncomfortably slow down my throat. "You look really nice."

"Thanks darling," she came over and patted my head, her cheeks flushing slightly red. It felt odd for my mum to accept a compliment without suspicion. "But can I make a suggestion to you?"

I scowled at her slightly, almost forgetting for a moment that she was not my real mum, it felt almost exactly the same as being at home with my mum.

"It's only tiny," she added softly, then without waiting for me to speak, she continued, "You really should do something with your hair. I know I'm not really up with the trends but I think brushing is still in style." She made quotation marks around her head when she said trends. I quickly patted my hair, feeling the elastic come completely lose and fall onto the bench. The rest of my hair twisted into a bird's nest at the back of my head while some fell drably over my shoulders.

"Oh," I said, remembering my distraction when I looked into the mirror. "Yeah I will."

Mum raised a perfectly plucked eyebrow and I found myself feel a little glad that my mum wasn't quite as pretty as this one. It was a little bit disheartening to have your mum be better presented then you.

"Well you had better do it quick. You don't have much time left and I am running late! It will take me at least 15 minutes to drive to the reservation."

I paused for a minute at her reference to the reservation. I knew where she meant. La Push beach and the Quileute tribe. That was where Jacob and Billy Black lived and, as we discovered in the second book in the Twilight saga - New Moon, the rest of the werewolf tribe. I tried not to perk up at the thought of a dream with Jacob Black in it. The way in which Stephanie Meyer described his body made me practically melt. I'd admit to anyone that I wasn't really into the love story between Edward and Bella. I enjoyed the story and Stephanie Meyer was a talented story teller but I think there was something holding me back from jumping off the cliff of being fully entwined in the story. It always seemed just a little unbelievable to me and not because it was about vampires and werewolves but the feelings involved. I had always written it off to the fact that I had never been in anything that even came close to resembling love so I didn't understand the feelings. They didn't seem rational to me.

"I'll only be twenty seconds," I promised as I stood up to go and tame my mane.

"Well good. Your keys are here..." she picked up a pair of car keys and jingled them before putting them down on the bench. "And I have to run but I'll meet you back here straight after and you can tell me about Forks High School and I will tell you about La Push High School?"

I stood and let it sink in that this dream wasn't going to turn into an erotic Jacob dream.

"I'll see you then," I waved at her as she gathered another set of keys and picked up a leather briefcase I hadn't noticed on the floor. She swung the front door widely open, letting the cold air flow inside and send a shiver up my spine.

"Have a good day Leighton." She ran out the door with her briefcase on her head to protect her from the rain.

I quickly ran to the door. "Good luck!" I yelled after her and she smiled widely at me from in the car and crossed her fingers.

"You too." She mouthed and then reversed from the driveway. I admired her car as it disappeared down the street. It was a pale blue Astra.

I quickly stepped back inside and pulled the door shut to prevent the cold from coming inside and I rubbed my hands up and down my arms to promote circulation.

I jumped up the stairs two at a time – something I never had the flexibility to do when I was awake but felt comfortable doing now. I tried my best at fixing my hair, brushing and wetting it until it hung over my shoulders almost tamely. It was always dead straight but always seemed to attract static. So much so that it felt like each individual hair was charged to repel each other. Lots of water was required to make it sit flat.

I walked back down stairs and put on my parka and slung my bag over one shoulder and went and grabbed my car keys. I hadn't noticed another car parked out the front but I did notice a garage on the side of the house. It only took me a short trip, and one miss turn into a back toilet, to find the garage door off the laundry. I felt myself smile as my eyes fell onto an older model – but in great condition – Volkswagen Beetle in a deep purple. I searched for another moment for the button to open the electric door but as soon as I found it hidden carefully in the glove box I was reversing out onto the street. Now I knew roughly where to find the school. It was like Bella said: it was like everything else – just off the highway. It didn't take me long to find the highway, our street was just off it. The school was only about two minutes up the highway – so close that if I hadn't been dreaming I would have felt guilty for driving. I stared at the collection of buildings for a moment – it was almost just like I had imagined it. A small collection of buildings made from matching maroon coloured bricks. They were hidden between bunches of large trees with thick trunks and lots of deep green leaves. I wondered for a second if they had built the buildings in a forest or had planted all those trees around the buildings. I wasn't able to stare in wonder for long as the rain was slowly getting heavier and there was a steady stream of cars in front and behind me. The person behind me beeped their horn impatiently. I drove past the first building with the sign of office over the door. I wasn't entirely sure where it was that I was going, but I assumed that because it was my dream it didn't really matter that much. I parked in one of the remaining spaces and hopped out into the car park that was slowly dispersing of people. I guessed that it meant the bell had already gone. I wasn't sure about what class I should go to but I decided that I would find something that looked like an English class – as I was never a big an of the science class. I walked around the first building that nobody was going in to. There were some teenagers walking in front of me that turned around to sneak glances at me occasionally but I didn't know who they were suppose to be so they didn't really grab my attention. For some reason, unbeknown to me I was concentrating on how the air was so cold it burned my lungs when I breathed in and no matter how much I wrapped my arms around myself it didn't do anything to warn off the cold. I saw a few kids who looked about my age walking into a room on my right. The building was labelled number three. I decided to follow them. As I approached behind them I could see them hanging up their coats and apologising to the teacher. I followed not far behind them but when I entered the warm classroom I could tell that my dream had just taken a turn for the worse. Every face in the room turned up to look at me, including the teacher a balding man who I seemed to have interrupted in mid-sentence.

"Can I help you?" he asked, looking at me quizzically and I felt my cheeks begin to burn with humiliation, as well as where all the eyes bore into me

"I'm new here," the words slipped out of my mouth before I could stop them but they seemed to be the right thing to say because his expression softened slightly. "Ah" he said, though it was more like breathed. I read his name plate on his desk that said he was Mr. Mason. "Do you have a slip?" he asked and a pale blonde girl in the front row chuckled. I instinctively looked down at my body to see what was funny. I thought that maybe this was going to turn into one of those I'm naked at school nightmares.

"No." I started, feeling unsure of myself. "I'm sort of lost."

The girl in the front row laughed out loud at this and I looked at my feet. All of a sudden I felt stupid wearing sneakers when it was so wet. Mr. Mason shot her a warning glare.

"Oh. Well you need to go to the office first. I can get one of the students to show you." He started.

"No." I cut him off. Not wanting to further my humiliation. "I saw it on my way it." I took one brief look around the room before I left. Every face was on me, either looking curious or trying to hide some level of amusement. Some weren't even trying to hide it at all. There was just one girl sitting at the back who had her head down reading a piece of paper on her desk. Her face was obscured by her long brown hair that had fallen over her face. I nearly stopped for a moment to do a second take. She looked awfully like my impression of Bella Swan. Maybe her hair was a slightly different shade of brown but she held herself with the same posture that I imagined her too. It mirrored how I felt at that moment – like she just wished she was invisible. I shook my head. I was half hoping that it would wake me up from this ridiculous dream. It didn't seem quite as appealing when I learnt that I wasn't going to be Bella Swan. I made my way towards the office building, letting the outside of my parka get progressively wetter. The inside of the office was bright and warm. I weaved my way through the potted plants to the counter in the middle. The red-haired lady behind the counter looked up at me. Her eyes narrowed behind her glasses.

"I'm new here," I offered to her in the same small voice that I had told Mr. Mason. Her eyes instantly widened and her face grew softer.

"Or course," she said. And she dug through a pile of papers beside her. She pulled out the document she was looking for and squinted as she read the sheet. "Leighton Summers?" She looked at me and I nodded. "I have your schedule here and a map of the school." She said it in a slightly dreary tone that made me think this was well rehearsed. As if reading my mind she said "You're our second new student today. It's brought up our average in take for the decade." And I didn't doubt that it had. She gave me several documents and highlighted the routes to my classes for me. At the end she bid me good day and wished that I enjoy my time at Forks. Shrugged but smiled at her anyway. Even in dreams I liked to be well mannered.

I looked at my first class on the timetable and it happened to be the class that I had just excited. Though I was glad that I didn't have to walk around in the rain to find another room I felt slightly despaired to stand in front of the laughing class again. Hopefully by the time I got there they would have mutated into other people. I tried to concentrate on changing the dream I was in. In the same way that I sometimes willed myself to run faster when I was dreaming I was being chased, but when I arrived back at the class room and hung up my coat the same faces were once again staring at me. I made eye contact with the girl in the back row and she blushed a deep red and dropped her eyes and I knew that she was definitely Bella Swan.

"Back again?" Said Mr. Mason and I gave him a weak smile and handed him my slip. He read my name silently, handed me a book list and directed me to a spare seat in the third row. I once again felt the eyes of the class follow me as I walked to my seat. I dug in my bag and found a pen and I tried to listen to the teacher instead of concentrating on the eyes I could feel on the back of my head. Unfortunately Mr Mason spoke in a monotone. It was as if he was reciting the lesson but judging his glazed over eyes he was in fact far away, dreaming probably, like me. I tried to subtly reach into my bag but the movement caught the girl's, who was sitting in the desk beside me, attention. She had shoulder length brown hair and looked at me with a slightly manic look in her eye. As if there was real possibly I was a serial killer and she didn't want to get close. I wanted to laugh and tell her that she wasn't actually real anyway. I felt my hands clasp familiarly around the spine of a book. I pulled it out and held it in my lap under the desk. I glanced at the cover. It was Emily Bronte's _Wuthering Heights _and I felt myself groan inwardly. I was still trying to figure out what character I was meant to be in my dream and if Bella was sitting behind me then I obviously wasn't her; but what other character liked Wuthering Heights? I certainly didn't like it. I had read it a few times. Once when I was nine and I wanted to read the classics. I didn't understand what it meant and that certainly didn't give it justice. I managed to read it again just last summer and I decided that Cathy was an awful, selfish character and it was not a love story so much as it was a hate story. The book was on the reading list though, so I found myself glad that I had at least read one. The others of Shakespeare, Chaucer and Faulkner. I hadn't read or wasn't even familiar with the last two. The bell rang and I hurriedly shoved the book back into my bag and stood up. The rest of the class seemed to be turned looking at Bella in the back row and it was a relief to have the eyes off me. I began to walk out but was cornered by the blonde girl who had laughed when I first entered the class.

"So who are you Leighton or Bella?" She smiled but it didn't come across as a friendly greeting. I looked down at myself and then across the room to where Bella sat looking uncomfortable. Obviously I was not Bella.

"Leighton." I told her and I felt her eyes glance up and down at my outfit. She seemed to approve of what I was telling her as her face lightened slightly.

"I'm Lauren," She smiled at me and I choked on air. She looked at me curiously as I coughed. "What class do you have next?" she asked as I regained my composure. She glanced at some people who walked passed at with an expression that showed she clearly thought she was doing me an act of charity, similar to that of feeding a homeless person maybe. I pulled out my timetable from my pocket and looked at my next class.

"Gym," I told her hesitantly, and I found myself hoping that she was not in it. It was as if her face was saying something different to her voice.

"Oh," she said, not looking at all disappointed. "I have Calculus."

"Ok." I told her, reaching for my parka.

"You can sit with me and my friends at lunch though," she said, and her face told me that she thought she was being overly kind.

"Thanks," I smiled at her sweetly as I headed out the door alone. I could see Bella walking with who I assumed was Eric ahead of me. When I got to the gym though they continued on and I was forced to enter on my own. In gym I handed my slip to Coach Clapp and played some volleyball. I was an average player of volleyball and I felt slightly ripped off that I couldn't have improved on that in my own dream. I kept trying to jump to the roof – something I was sure I had done in a dream before – every time I went to spike the ball. Coach Clapp mistook this for enthusiasm and by the end of the game he was yelling encouragingly at me from the side lines, making not just myself but all my team mates blush. One girl with wildly curly dark hair came and introduced her as Jessica. She laughed at the coach and asked me where I was from.

"Texas," I answered automatically. She smiled at me unsure.

"You don't sound like you're from Texas." I laughed at the way it seemed she was questioning whether or not I really knew where I came from. She looked down at my attire and I guessed she was probably expecting cowboy boots or something.

"I haven't been there long," I told her, "I was from California before that."

"Wow, you must move a lot," she told me while looking at me uncertainly. I felt myself smile at how everyone was looking at me like I was crazy – if only they knew the truth I thought to myself. I was beginning to decide that this dream was more of a nightmare then if I was walking around the school naked. Since I had graduated from high school in the summer I was obviously channelling that energy into a nightmare about a normal school day – in a Twilight book.

"Yeah we do," I answered her as we walked out the door.

"What class do you have next?" she asked me enthusiastically,

"Calculus," I answered automatically and she smiled and told me that she had Calculus next too. I smiled and followed her as she chatted about the teachers and the students.

"And we barely ever get new students and today we got two," she breathed, smiling at me like I should get the joke.

"Two?" I asked her, but I felt like I already knew what the answer was.

"Yeah. There is you and Isabella Swan." I nodded at her without speaking. I she continued to talk on the way to Calculus but I was too deep in my own thoughts to really listen to her. I just nodded and smiled when she turned to me. So it was Bella's first day as well? I found myself feeling even more confused. It was as if I had just opened up to the first page of Twilight and jumped right in. I was under the impression that I was dreaming I was a character from Stephanie Meyer's book, but I couldn't remember her mentioning any other character starting school at Forks High on the same day as Bella Swan. Outside the door of the Calculus room we ran into Eric chatting again to a blushing Bella Swan. Jessica smiled excitedly and walked towards them.

"Hi Eric!" she said and Eric shot her a questioning glace that clearly meant she had never greeted him so happily before now.

"Hi," he said suspiciously.

"I'm Jessica," she said to Bella, holding out her hand. "You must be Isabella."

"Bella," she corrected instantly, and then looked at the ground again. Jessica turned around and gestured to me to move forwards.

"Bella this is Leighton. It's her first day as well. Weird right?"

Bella turned her attention to me where I rolled me eyes slightly when Jessica wasn't watching. She smiled at me genuinely. She was different to what I had imagined her. I wasn't much that I couldn't instantly recognise who she was. Her hair was the same as I imagined and the awkward way in which she walked why looking at her feet. As if she didn't trust them to find the ground on their own. But there were things about her that were different. Her nose, for instance, was so perfect and rounded that it made me feel awkwardly aware of my sharp nose as if it had grown to be the size of the hallway and her skin was pale but perfect like porcelain. Her cheeks that were freshly flushed with red made her look thoroughly doll like.

"Hi," I said to her, even though it felt already like we were having a conversation without words.

"Hi," she replied and then looked back at the floor. Jessica stood between us looking at our exchange.

"Well you can both sit next to me" she chimed and entered the class and hung up her jacket. Bella and I followed, I hung up my parka and she hung up her black jacket.

"So do you like it here?" I asked her quietly while Jessica walked to her seat. She whispered to a girl with braces and a bad perm who looked unhappy but then vacated her seat.

"Um," she paused for a moment and looked at the ground. It was if she wasn't totally sure about what she was doing here.

"Same for me," I whispered at her and she smiled a small smile. The teacher looked at us expectantly. Not surprised to find two new students. Bella and I handed him our slips.

"Would you both like to introduce yourselves to the class?" he asked and Bella and I both stopped. Bella's mouth fell open and she instantly turned red. I stopped because I wasn't quite sure what to tell the class.

"I really wouldn't want to take out valuable learning time," I told him seriously and he looked from me to Bella, who was looking at the floor. "I mean there _are _two of us."

He stopped at my last remark and looked again from me to Bella, as if confirming that there were two of us. "Ok. Go find a seat."

I heard Bella exhale audibly in relief. "Is public speaking not your forte?" I asked her as she looked at me appreciatively.

"No. Thank you." She whispered and took the seat that Jessica had cleared on her right. I sat down on her left and pulled out my book. I took notes lazily on the lecture. Calculus wasn't my favourite subject the first time around and it hadn't become any more endearing to me in a dream.

When the bell rang it turned out that Jessica, Bella and I had Spanish together. We walked as Jessica chatted animatedly about teachers and people again. She didn't ask us any questions and I was grateful. Bella looked like she was somewhere else. After Spanish it was lunch. Bella and I followed Jessica dutifully to the cafeteria where we sat at a table with eight or so other people. They all introduced themselves and I recognised some of their faces from previous classes. Angela smiled at Bella and me warmly as she was introduced and her warmth made me feel better about being in a dream I couldn't quite wake up from yet. I sat next to her and Bella sat across the table next to Jessica. She waved as Eric greeted her from across the cafeteria and then her face paused in mid expression and her eyes widened slightly. I turned to look where she was staring and I felt my eyes widen as well. Everything I was thinking fell out of my mind as I took in the Cullens. They were beautiful, more devastatingly beautiful then I had ever imagined. While I was reading the books I imagined them as good-looking people but I seemed to have skipped over the details of how their skin was so white, except under their eyes where it was dark. If it was anyone else they would have looked ill, but for some reason on them it made it nearly impossible to look away.

"Who are _they_?" Bella asked, not looking away from their table even as Alice got up and left. I looked down at the table, not wanting to look at either Bella or the Cullens. I felt almost as if I was intruding on a personal moment. It was, after all, her first glance at her soul mate. I was the moment that ultimately starts a chain of events that turns her life away from any path it was taking. I looked at Bella and tried to imagine her with that same skin – the same dark eyes but for some reason the image was fuzzy in my mind. Bella suddenly flushed a dark red and looked dropped her gaze to the table. I turned slightly to peek back at the Cullens. Edward was still looking over towards our table but instead of looking at Bella his eyes were burning into me.

_That's not right,_ I thought involuntarily. _This should be the part where he figures out he can't read Bella's mind._ I stoped thinking as the look on Edwards face turned to sudden shock. _He can read my mind._ I thought suddenly feeling terrified. I had decided unconsciously that my thoughts would have been off limits due to the fact that this was my dream and obviously the whole place was one big thought of mine. I decided to smile at him. It was the only thing that I could think of doing that might stop him ripping me apart. If this was going to be a nightmare being broken in half by a beautiful vampire seemed to be a very frightening prospect. I turned my thoughts back to the table. Concentrating hard on the carrot sticks on my tray.

Jessica giggled in embarrassment, not noticing my brief exchange with Edward, though Angela looked at me curiously. "That's Edward and Emmett Cullen, and Rosalie and Jasper Hale. The one who left was Alice Cullen; they all live together with Dr. Cullen and

his wife." She said this under her breath.

Bella looked back at the table again, curiosity and wonder was sparkling in her eyes and I tried not to think about the Twilight books at all. I tried to imagine my carrots sticks growing legs and walking away.

"They are...very nice looking." She blushed brightly but Jessica looked flushed as well.

"Yes!" Jessica agreed with another giggle. "They're all together though — Emmett and Rosalie, and Jasper and Alice, I mean. And they live together." Her voice held all the shock and condemnation of the small town and Bella's eyes flashed protectively for a moment before turning back to curiosity.

"Which ones are the Cullens?" She asked. "They don't look related…"

"Oh, they're not. Dr. Cullen is really young, in his twenties or early thirties. They're all adopted. The Hales are brother and sister, twins — the blondes — and they're foster children."

"They look a little old for foster children."

"They are now, Jasper and Rosalie are both eighteen, but they've been with Mrs. Cullen since they were eight. She's their aunt or something like that."

"That's really kind of nice — for them to take care of all those kids like that, when they're so young and everything."

"I guess so," Jessica admitted reluctantly, and I felt almost as if my mind was split into two. There was the scene that I was seeing and the scene that had already seen before, filtered through Bella's vision and written by Stephanie Meyer. It was slightly different of course; the fact that I was there was a change from the original story line but almost everything else seemed to be very similar. I couldn't remember the exact conversation she had with Jessica, but I knew it was very similar to the one they were having now.

"Have they always lived in Forks?" she asked, her eyes flicking to and from the table as if she wasn't able to keep her eyes off them for long.

"No," Jessica said in a voice that implied it should be obvious, even to a new arrival. "They just moved down two years ago from somewhere in Alaska." Bella's eyes softened slightly as she glanced back at the Cullens.

"What went on before with you and Edward?" I heard a soft voice whisper in my ear and I turned to Angela who was looking at me knowingly. I looked around but Bella and Jessica where still deep in their conversation.

"Nothing." I shrugged my best attempt at blasé. "I thought I recognised him from somewhere but I was mistaken."

"A huh," Angela smiled coyly but I knew she wasn't convinced though I was sure she had no idea what was really going on. I didn't even know what was going on. I didn't look back over to the Cullen's table and when the bell went I pulled out my timetable ready to leave.

"What do you two have next?" asked Jessica.

"Biology," answered Bella

"Government," I moaned.

"Well I have Biology too," answered Angela and she and Bella walked out towards their class.

"I have English," said Jessica and looked slightly apologetic for a moment before walking off to her class and leaving me alone in the cafeteria. I found my own way to Government where I met Eric who was helpful in telling me all about what I had missed that year after I confessed Government was my worst subject. He looked hopeful when he offered me private tutoring lessons since he averaged an A in that class. After Government I found my way to Biology where I sat next to Lauren again who whispered to me for the whole lesson about how much interest Bella had paid in the Cullens. I pretended to concentrate on cellular anatomy and not being amused by her foul mood.

I felt relief at the end of the school day but confusion started to set in about when this dream was going to end. If it was a nightmare about school it was well and truly over. I ran into Bella on the way towards the car park. Her brow was furrowed in confusion and she looked disorientated when I said hello.

"Are you going to the office to return your paperwork?" she asked me, waving the pile of slips that were piled neatly in her hand.

"Yeah," I answered quickly, pulling the scrunched paper out of my pocket.

We walked quietly towards the office building but it wasn't an awkward silence. It was strange seeing her through a filter that wasn't her own.

"So the kids are really keen here," I started up a conversation. She pulled a face.

"I know," she replied, cringing at the thought.

"It must be a small town thing," I mused. Not having ever been in a small town.

"Definitely," she agreed.

"So why did you move to Forks?" I asked, for the sake of conversation. I already knew all about what brought her to Forks.

"Oh I came to move in with my dad," she said shakily, and I knew there was more to the story but I didn't push it.

"Where did you move from?" I asked

"Phoenix."

"I came from Hudson," I offered her. We were probably the only two beings here from big cities.

"You must hate the rain," she told me.

"Not really," I admitted, looking up at the cloudy sky. It had stopped drizzling.

"Oh," she looked back at the ground again. "Why did you move here?" she asked.

I paused for a second. That was a good question. "My mum got a job as a teacher," I decided. It was really the only thing I knew about myself.

"Really?" she looked around as if looking for someone. "Which one is she?"

"Oh. Not at this school." I answered. "She teaches down at La Push."

"Really?" asked Bella again, but more interested this time. "My dad knows someone who lives down there."

"What does your dad do?" I felt silly asking questions that I already knew the answer for but I felt compelled to keep things normal. Even though part of me wanted to wake up, another part of me wanted this dream to keep continuing. I didn't want to do anything to rock the boat.

"He's the police chief," she answered as she pushed open the door to the office. She stiffened suddenly. I looked over her shoulder at Edward standing at the counter of the desk talking furiously to the lady behind the counter. His back stiffened and he turned around slowly to look at us. He looked at Bella and his eyes were hate-filled. Bella shuddered.

"Never mind, then," he said hastily in a voice like velvet. "I can see that it's impossible. Thank you so much for your help." And he turned on his heel without another look at Bella and walked through the door. I stood out of his way as he came through. For a brief second his eyes met mine, they were black as night. _He's so thirsty_ was all I could think and then I squealed inwardly as he stopped and turned to look at me. His face was so contorted with hatred that I felt frozen to the spot. He then turned around abruptly and walked impossibly fast towards the car park. Bella and I stared for a moment at the spot where he had just been. I recovered my composure first.

"Gee. What's his problem?" I tried to hold back my snicker at my attempt at dumb.

Bella shrugged, still not looking away from where he was once standing. "I don't know," she whispered confused.

I approached the counter where the lady was looking us strangely. I handed her my slips.

"How did your first day go, girls?" she asked us maternally. "I was _so _hoping that you two would become friends."

We both smiled at her meekly. "Fine," answered Bella, though it sounded more like she was saying "horrible". I just smiled dumbly.

We walked back to the car park together in silence. Bella's face became more and more twisted in thought as she walked. Our cars were nearly the last in the park. Her old Chevy truck stood out across the park from my purple Beetle.

"This is me," I said to her as I reached the Beetle. She looked like she only vaguely knew where she was and she looked anxious to reach her truck.

"Ok. I'll see you tomorrow?" she asked hopefully and I paused for a moment. _There probably won't be a tomorrow_, I thought, but I answered. "Sure,"

It took me a while to get home. I had forgotten which turn off it was and then I forgot which house it was. I hadn't taken much notice of what the exterior looked like. I recognised the car parked on the street as my mum's and when I pushed the button on my remote the garage door buzzed open. The outside of the house was nice. It was a brick house with a tidy front lawn.

I parked the car in the garage and closed the door then went into the laundry. I didn't realise how busting I was to go to the toilet until I looked at the toilet and then suddenly I couldn't walk fast enough. I threw the door open and quickly dropped my pants and sat on the toilet and then I froze. I knew what happened if you went to the toilet in your dream. My bladder screamed in protest at being so close to a toilet but I held on. _Wake up,_ I thought angrily to myself. _Wake up or you are going to wet the bed._ I closed my eyes but nothing happened to me. Nothing changed. My bladder suddenly burst and I moaned in distress and embarrassment. Could I possibly wash my sheets without my family noticing it? My face burned with humiliation as I flushed the toilet. I was still embarrassed when I entered the kitchen where my mum was sitting at the counter holding a cup of coffee. Her head was bowed and her dark hair hung over her face.

"Hi," I greeted her, automatically reaching for the fridge.

"Hey honey," she answered, not looking up from her coffee.

The inside of the fridge was bare, in accordance with having just moved. Instead I pushed the boil button on the kettle and it hissed to life.

"Aren't you going to ask me?" mum asked, finally looking up from her coffee.

"What?" I asked.

She threw her arms in the air. "Oh I don't know. How about, 'how was your first day?'"

"Are you going to ask me?" I laughed while looking around for a mug.

"Top cupboard," she answered my thoughts and then continued. "Fine, I'll bite. How was your day?"

"Fine," I answered, pulling a box of tea bags out of one of the bags filled with food on the bench. "How was your day?"

"Great," she breathed excitedly, "The kids _loved _me." I turned around and lent on the bench as I sipped my tea. I raised an eyebrow at her.

"They did!" she insisted, "They were rather funny kids – one of them had a smart mouth. But of course you can't let them know you find them funny. You have to show them whose boss."

I laughed. "They are kids not dogs, Mum." I sucked my breath in as I realised that I called her mum. I was just running on suspicion that she was my mum. She might not have been. But she didn't correct me or even pause at my reference, she just laughed lightly along with me. "I wouldn't laugh if I was you. If you ever teach you will suddenly see the similarities between high school and puppy school."

I laughed as she made an impression of talking to a dog/student. My stomach grumbled audibly and she laughed. "We don't have anything to make for dinner so what sort of take out do you want?"

"Does this place have Pizza?" I laughed, suddenly having a strong craving for pepperoni.

"Pizza sounds good. I was hoping to unpack the lounge room and kitchen some more tonight. Will you help me?" she asked and I groaned at her. I didn't care if I was dreaming I still hated un-packing. I put my tea down and let her play drag me into the lounge room where she pulled two large boxes labelled "lounge room things" into the middle of the floor in front of the large sofa. A flat screen TV sat on a TV cabinet across for the lounge. Mum got down on her knees and pulled the tape off the box. I walked grudgingly over towards her and knelt next to the second box. I pulled the tape off, suddenly eager to see what the contents would be. I reached in and felt my hands grab onto a wooden frame which I pulled out carefully. Looking up at me was myself. I was laughing; as was my dream mum whose head was resting on mine. It was a black and white photo and it was beautiful. It almost hurt to look at a relationship that was so pure. The love in their eyes was insurmountable.

"Oh, I love that photo." Said mum as she reached over and took it from my slightly shaking hands. She touched the glass tenderly. "I told you not to put that necklace over our heads."

I looked carefully at the photo to notice a thin chain around our necks, pinning our heads together. On the chain was a small heart charm. Mum started to laugh. "You should have seen your face when you figured out that you couldn't get it back over our heads." Her laugh started as a chuckle but then it escalated into a loud rumble. She put the photo on the ground and clutched at her stomach as she convulsed with laughter. Each time she glanced at the photo a new wave of laughter struck. She sucked in her breath loudly as she tried to regain her composure.

"You – You," she tried to speak but each time she began the sentence fresh laughter rendered her hopeless. I looked down at my face in the picture. I forced myself to look at it despite the oddity of looking at a photo of a moment I didn't even know I had been present at. My face was sort of funny. I was laughing but there was also panic in my eyes. Tears were now running down my mum's face. She got up off the floor and took the photo over to the television cabinet where she placed it proudly on top. She then breathed deeply and came and sat back down on the floor, still giggling occasionally. I pulled from the box several more photos much like the first. They were always only of the two of us, though out of her box mum pulled out photos of various relatives and talked me through who they were as if she knew that I didn't have the faintest clue. By the time everything had a place somewhere in the room and the boxes were empty and put next to the recycling I was in wonder at the intricate dream I had created for myself. Not just the detail in how school had ran just like a Twilight movie, but in this life that I created for myself. It was like I had a whole lifetime of history and family history. The detail was astounding.

We ordered Pizza and ate it while we sat at the kitchen bench. Mum went into a detailed account of her day at school, describing everyone and everything she encountered. She then questioned me about my day and I spoke openly about everyone – meticulously leaving out the fact that the whole thing was actually out of a book I had already read.

When we finished we sat contently in silence for a moment until mum glanced at her watch.

"It's getting so late and I have lessons to plan for tomorrow!" she sighed. I glanced at her watch it was already ten o'clock. "I'm going to go and grab a shower and then get some marking done before bed. You should definitely shower." She told me as she kissed my head and wrinkled her nose. "And wash your hair." She told me as she disappeared up the stairs.

I stood hesitantly and looked at the stairs. I wasn't sure about what I was meant to do now. Was I going to wake up soon? I looked around the kitchen at the unpacked boxes and bags of food. It seemed comfortable to me, much in the same way my own kitchen was. I walked up the stairs, deciding that I may as well get into the shower – it might even wake me up. I cringed at the thought, knowing the mess that would be waiting for me in my bed.

All my thoughts left my mind as I showered. I let the heat fill the room up with steam and relax my muscles. I looked wistfully down at my long legs knowing that my time with them must be drawing to a close. I got out of the shower and put on my old sweat pants and t-shirt and, on finding nothing else I wanted to do, crawled into bed to wait to wake up. The bed was warm and I found myself snuggling deeper into the covers. My eyes suddenly felt heavy and I was shocked to realise that I felt exhausted. I moaned knowing that I would probably wake up feeling like I hadn't slept at all. That was always the case when I had eventful dreams. My eyes began I slip shut despite my protests. I found myself hoping that I remembered this dream in the morning, or at least remembered the mum I created. She was soft yet so adorable and her love for my dream self was undeniable and unmistakable. My eyes closed suddenly as if they had sinkers attached to the bottom and then - as if I was only blinking rather than falling asleep – they opened again.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two – There's No Place Like Home.

My eyes opened and I squinted for a moment as they adjusted to the morning sun coming through my window. I was not surprised to find myself in my own bed, but I was surprised to find myself remembering the soft mattress that had felt just as real as the hard one I was laying on now. In addition to remembering the mattress I also remembered the whole day I had in Forks, Washington with piercing clarity. There was not even the slightest fuzziness to the memory, or the type of confusion that usually came hand in hand with dreaming. I pulled myself out of bed. I was feeling surprisingly refreshed despite the energetic dream I had. I dressed quickly – my mind was still mulling over the dream I had.

My little sister Eleanor was eating her breakfast when I walked into the kitchen. I poured myself a bowl of cereal and paused for a moment when I realised I was about to pour orange juice over them. I shook my head and grabbed the milk.

"What's with you today?" asked Eleanor, she raised an eyebrow at me. Her spiral hair fell down her back. She spoke with her thirteen-year-old attitude that Mum was always scolding her about.

"Just not awake yet," I told her as I sat down next to her. I ate my cereal quietly as I thought about my dream. I couldn't shake the feeling that I was going to miss this dream terribly and I began to wish that I couldn't remember it at all.

"You look like you're in another world," she commented, not looking away from the television which was playing cartoons. I laughed at how close she was to the mark.

I had pulled myself out of my funk by the time I got to work. I filed and answered phones all day with the strict mental orders to not think about Twilight all day. I wasn't very successful.

When I got home I walked straight to my sister's room. She was sitting at her desk doing her geography homework. I walked in and lay down on her bed.

"Yeah sure Leighton you can come in," she told me sarcastically without looking up from her work.

"Thanks," I mumbled to her, my face in a pillow.

"What is _wrong _with you today?" she asked, throwing her pen down and turning around to look at me. She was a very serious thirteen-year-old. Sometimes I thought that maybe she should be the older sister.

"I had this strange dream last night and it has stuck with me all day," I told her, turning my head to look at her.

"Well let's hear it then," she resigned, and I smiled. This scene was a common occurrence between the two of us. I told her most of my problems and she usually gave me very good advice, even though most of the time she was too young to have experienced any of the things herself.

I explained my dream to her in detail, giving her a play by play of every minute. When I finished she looked at me with her mouth slightly ajar.

"I knew you'd think I was crazy!" I told her, burying my head in her pillows.

'No. It's not that," she told me, "I was just wondering what the problem was exactly."

"What the problem is?"

"Yeah,"

"What do you mean?"

"Well. As far as I can tell last night you had the best dream _ever_. I don't know what you're agonising over." She gushed. She looked at me jealously as I considered what she said. My sister was a bigger Twilight fan then I was. I hypothesised that it must have something to do with the fact that she had no romantic experiences of her own. She believed particularly strongly in Edward and Bella's relationship. She just took the leap when Bella did, not ever stopping to question if it was right or healthy, as I often did.

"That it's over," I admitted reluctantly, and she laughed. I gave her a kiss on the head on the way out and she cringed away from it like I was burning her. I didn't understand that. She was so willing to embrace Edward's and Bella's love but she moved away from mine for her.

That night as I sat in bed I perused my bookshelf in the hopes of reading something before I went to sleep. I moved my gaze purposely past the Twilight series which kept jumping out at me. Eventually I settled for Breath by Tim Winton, but I had only reached the second page when my eyes began to droop sleepily. I carefully sat the book and my bed side table and snuggled in to go to sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three – There and Back Again

My eyes flew open. All the tiredness that I was just overcome with was gone. _Again? _I thought to myself but secretly I was glad to see the cream on cream room. Everything was in the exact same place as where it had been when I went to sleep and I knew that this was no ordinary dream that I was having. How many times had I tried my hardest to fall back into the same dream again? And now I had managed it without even trying to.

_What is going on?_ I thought to myself as I pulled myself into the bathroom and pulled a brush through my hair. Once I had congratulated myself on wrangling it into something that resembled presentable I went straight to the closet. I fished through the drawers until I found a respectable outfit in a pair of black skinny jeans and an oversized t-shirt. Even though I couldn't hear any rain outside, I knew that it most probably wasn't sunny so I pulled on a black cardigan over the top and grabbed my parka on the way down the stairs.

"Wow. Are you going for a rock star look today?" asked Mum from the kitchen bench.

"What?" I asked her, blushing slightly as I looked down at my outfit.

"You look great," she corrected, "It's just more black than normal." I shrugged.

"Suits the mood apparently," she remarked as I put some toast in the toaster.

"I'm not in a black mood," I snapped, and she smiled with a look that clearly questioned my response. "I'm just tired," I said softer now. And it was surprisingly true. I hadn't slept now in two nights and even though I wasn't physically tired I felt mentally exhausted.

"You don't look tired," she told me as I put spread on my toast. "And I have to go to work. But I'll see you when you get home." I wasn't a question.

"See you," I stuck a cheek out as she kissed it and walked out the door.

I ate my toast quickly but it was still too early for me to leave to school. I decided that if I was going to be here then I needed a plan. The fact that I could see and feel everything as if it was real was beginning to override my mental reasoning that this was a dream.

I frowned at myself. I was going crazy. But still I lay on the lounge and decided that I was going to avoid thinking about anything in Edward's company and I was just going to get on with things here like I don't know anything. I decided that at this point in time just seeing how things played out would be the best idea. After that decision was made I felt surprisingly more upbeat. I liked to give myself rules to follow; it helped me think that I at least had something in my control. So with my rules in place I left for school. I didn't mind that I was slightly early. I sat with Bella and Mike in English class and then Mike walked Bella to her next class while Eric walked me to the Gym, all the while he was glaring towards Mike. This brought a wide smile on his face and Eric seemed to cheer considerably at the idea that I thought he was funny. He launched into an even more animated re-enactment of something he did over the summer holidays. In gym I met up with Jessica, who chatted to me comfortably while we played Volleyball. At lunchtime the groups seemed to converge into one large group that now included Mike and Eric. The group seemed to centre on Bella and me, but I could see that her mind was elsewhere as her eyes flashed towards the Cullen's table. I didn't even look over – I knew that Edward wouldn't be there.

"Um Bella," I said as soon as it looked like everyone else was in their own conversations. "I was actually wondering what you were doing after school today?" I was surprised at how nervous I was feeling. "It's just that my mum is on my back about meeting my friends. It tried to tell her that I've only been here two days but she doesn't seem to count that as an excuse and it is just that you're new here too." I was blabbering now and Bella smiled at me.

"That sounds like something my mum would say," her face fell suddenly. "But I really need to do some food shopping after school. Charlie only knows how to cook bacon and eggs."

"Oh that's alright," I said quickly, masking my face to hide my disappointment.

"But if you wanted you could come to my house later," she suggested, "There probably won't be much to do but Charlie might like meet you, and I'm sure Renee would love to hear that I had a friend over."

I smiled at her warmly and I liked how things weren't awkward between us. Neither of us felt like we needed to try to be anything, it was just easy.

"Ok so around four?" I asked. She nodded and wrote down some directions on a piece of paper for me. After school I ended up waiting behind Bella in her truck in the line waiting to exit the parking lot. She smiled at me in her rear vision mirror and then I saw her gaze shift nervously to the Cullen's standing beside their Volvo. I looked at the Cullen's too and almost instantly they turned their hard gazes to me. Alice's expression changed to confusion and I had to look away rather than meet their hard glares. I was glad when I finally managed to leave the school ground. When I got home Mum wasn't there. She had left a scribbled note on the kitchen bench that she had gone to get some groceries. I decided to spend the hour unpacking the boxes in my cupboard. I pulled out the one that was labelled clothes first. I decided that if I didn't do it soon then I might not have any clothes to wear if I happen to come back here tomorrow night. On the top of the box was a pile of coat hangers that I pulled out and rested on the bed. I then began to sort the clothes that I pulled out. I marvelled at my large collection of jeans in every colour and shape. I hung on the coat hangers a few summer dresses – though I doubted that I would ever get a chance to wear them. In the bottom were some shoes and I was glad to find a pair of boots that would mean I no longer had to get wet feet from wearing sneakers. Once I has sorted the closet and familiarised myself with every article of clothing I picked up the dirty clothes that were still on the floor and put them in the washing basket then grabbed the directions to Bella's house. Down stairs I wrote on the bottom of mum's note where I was going and quickly copied the directions down. I told her I would be home for dinner. I assumed that she must have gotten lost in the grocery store.

Bella's house was easy to find. It was only a few minutes from my own house and I probably could have walked. I knocked on the door quietly. I heard footsteps inside.

"Oh hi Leighton," greeted Bella

"Hi," I replied, coming in and taking off my coat. Her house was small yet homely. Bella walked into the kitchen and I follow.

"I was just about to put Charlie's dinner on, will you be staying?" she asked, brushing her long hair from her face.

"Oh no thank you," I answered as she wrapped some potatoes in foil and put them in the oven. "I told Mum I would be home for dinner."

"Does your mum like teaching down at the reservation?" Bella asked curiously, grabbing two sodas from the fridge and offering for me to sit down at the table. I sat down opposite her.

"Yeah she really loves it," I answered, remembering how her face was alight when she came home.

"Do you want to be a teacher when you finish school?" she asked me, and I thought for a moment.

"No, I don't think I'd want to be at high-school for a second time." Bella nodded in agreement, but I mentally noted that technically it would be a third time.

We chatted for a while about what we had considered doing after school, both of us resigning to the fact that it seemed too far away to give it much thought. Then I plucked up the courage to bring up Edward Cullen.

"So I noticed that Edward Cullen wasn't at school today." I said casually, and I saw her pause in the middle of taking a sip of soda. "It was really strange what happened yesterday in the office."

Bella nodded in agreement and hesitantly told me about what had happened in Biology class.

"It's almost like he hates me. It seems unfair since he doesn't even know me."

"His family is so different looking," I added, "So _good_ looking." I corrected.

Bella nodded her face in awe. I heard the sound of a car pulling up in the driveway.

"That must be Charlie," Bella got up and began cooking the steaks.

"Bella?" yelled a voice from the front door.

"In the kitchen Dad!" Bella yelled back. A few moments later Charlie appeared in the kitchen. He was a soft looking man with hair a slightly darker shade then Bella's but the same kind eyes.

"Smells great Bella" he said inhaling deeply, he then noticed me and paused. I stood up quickly.

"Hi Chief Swan, I'm Leighton Summers." I held out a hand to him which he shook smiling at me.

"Well hello Leighton." He said smiling curiously at Bella who blushed deep red. "I haven't seen you around town before and please call me Charlie. I'm not on duty now."

"That's because I just moved here actually." I told him and sat down at the table when he did. "My mum got a job teaching over at the reservation."

"Oh. Billy told me they got a new teacher up there. Apparently his son Jacob was giving her a bit of cheek." I laughed but my heart fluttered at the thought of Jacob. So my mum taught him.

"Well I'm sure it wasn't anything my mum couldn't handle, sir." I laughed. "She eats kids for breakfast."

Charlie laughed heartily. "She sounds like my sort of woman. Will you be staying for dinner Leighton?"

"Thanks for the offer but not tonight sir," I looked at the clock. It was nearing six o'clock. "I should probably be getting back home before my mum calls the police." Charlie laughed at my joke. Bella looked from Charlie to me and smiled, she put a plate in front of Charlie and I stood up.

"Thanks so much for having me over Bella." I said to her warmly. "It was great to meet you Charlie."

"You too," said Charlie through a mouthful of steak. Bella began to stand up but I motioned her down.

"I can walk myself out. I'll see you at school tomorrow?"

Bella nodded at waved at me as I exited the kitchen. I could see her turn her attention to Charlie as he said something that made her smile.

When I got home mum was just serving our dinner. It was lasagne and I could smell it from the garage. My stomach rumbled audibly.

"So?" she said to me excitedly as I sat down at the table which was now cleared of boxes. "Did you have a nice time?"

"Yes. I met her dad. He's the Chief of Police here in Forks."

Mum looked impressed and pressed me for more details on Bella and my day at school. During the washing up I turned the attention to her.

"So what are the kids that you teach like?" I asked her casually.

"Oh they think they're pretty funny. They're cheeky, but they're all great kids."

"Anyone in particular?"

She thought for a moment. "In one class there is this boy Jacob and his friends Quill and Embry. I actually have to stop myself from laughing at their antics." I toned my response down to a casual nod but I was secretly glad that this Jacob didn't seem any different to the Jacob in the book.

After the cleaning up was finished Mum settled herself in the lounge room to finish marking homework. I too had homework to do. Something I wasn't at all happy about having to repeat.

"You seem more relaxed today," Mum said casually as I was about to walk upstairs. I stopped and looked at her.

"I had some good advice that I think really sunk in." I told her truthfully, thinking of my little sister. I missed her for a moment and wished she could be there.

"That good honey," she told me. "You have to make the best out of what is given to you"

I walked up the stairs and did my homework in my room. I then quickly showered and climbed into bed exhausted again.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four – Even When I'm Sleeping.

I wasn't surprised when I woke up in my normal life again. Nor was I surprised when I went to sleep and woke up in Forks. I continued this pattern for the rest of the week: going to school in Forks and going to work in Texas. I began to get into my classes in Forks, doing all my homework and even learning a few things that I missed in school the first time around. Bella and I settled into a routine of a quiet friendship. Sitting next to each other in the classes we had together and at lunch times sharing secret glances at the antics of our new group of friends. Sometimes I caught her eye while she was looking over at the Cullens where Edward was still absent from school. She'd look at me guiltily because I knew who she was looking for but it wasn't comfortable at all. Not surprisingly I understood what she was thinking, but surprising even me was that Bella seemed to understand me without even knowing the truth about me. Sometimes Bella would come over to my house after school and Mum adored her. Similarly I went to her house and Charlie would chat to me and chortle at my bad jokes. The conversation at school centred on a trip to La Push Ocean Reserve that Mike was planning. I was looking forward to the trip but Bella seemed more reluctant, though she agreed to go. Mike noticed her reluctance and his hurt feelings displayed all over his face. I brought this up with Bella on the weekend when we decided to check out the local library.

"So tell me that you have noticed how excited Mike is about the beach trip," I decided to take more of a round about trip to the point.

"Yeah he is really getting into it."

"Not to mention how excited he is about you coming," Bella paused and looked up from the book she was looking at. She blushed a deep scarlet.

"I'm just hoping if I ignore him it might go away," she said in a small voice. I laughed at this. She looked at me expectantly and I realised she was wanting me to offer her a solution.

"Don't look at me," I put my hands up. "I have no idea about this stuff."

Bella's face fell.

"This library is so small," I winged and Bella put her book back on the shelf and nodded. We left without getting a card.

"We will have to go to Port Angeles or something and find a book store," I offered as we hopped back in her truck.

"That's a good idea,"

"But maybe we should take my car," I laughed as the old Chevy roared to life. Bella blushed but smiled. It was common place for me to tease her about her truck but she knew I loved it almost as much as she did. I enjoyed hanging out with Bella enormously. Some times I almost forgot that I was in some crazy alternate universe because hanging with her was so natural and although she was quieter then me, and she didn't laugh as much I could tell that she wasn't miserable like she was in the beginning of the book and I was glad I could save her just that little bit of heart ache.

On Monday it was freezing in Forks. Colder than anything I had every experienced before. I had a lucky way of always avoiding the winter wherever I went. During winter break my family usually visited Australia where my mum's family lived. We always had a Summer Christmas. And we always lived in places where the cold didn't get so bad.

I dressed in two jumpers on Monday and I had two pairs of socks on under my boots. My mum laughed at my shivering and told me I should probably get used to it.

"I don't understand," I said to Bella as she picked me up for school. We were in the routine now of carpooling to school. I shivered uncontrollably. "Isn't it spring?"

Bella shook her head too and tried to turn up the heat. I laugh as the old truck tried it's hardest to warm the cab. At school we were both greeted in the car park by many of the students. We both said hi and smiled at them warmly. We had a pop quiz in English on Wuthering Heights and Bella smiled triumphantly as she beat me by one even though it was easy. Mike watched the two of us in wonder. I asked Mike about his weekend as he walked us to out next class. Bella looked at me appreciatively as I was saving her from being the centre of his attention. Suddenly some students started shouting excitedly to each other. I looked up at the sky as little fluffs of white began falling from the sky. My nose felt numb from the cold wind.

"Wow," said Mike, looking up at the sky. "It's snowing."

"Ew." Bella said, scrunching up her nose in disgust as she looked at the piles of white building up on the ground. She continued walking as Mike questioned her about not liking snow. I stood rooted to the spot.

Bella finally noticed my absence and turned around. "What's wrong Leighton?" she asked

"Snow," I said, holding out my hand and catching some cold ice.

"I know," said Bella, looking like she was ready to leave me standing there to get out of the cold.

"It's different to what I thought it would look like," I told her, studying the melting flakes in my hand.

"You've never seen snow?" asked Mike, looking at me wide eyed.

"Me either," shrugged Bella, and Mike looked from one of us to the other and laughed before he was hit in the back of the head by a snow ball. Bella looked extremely uncomfortable.

"Let's go," I said to her and she gladly walked towards class, I had to stretch my legs to keep up with her. But I didn't hate the snow as Bella seemed to. I found myself staring at it in wonder. I knew how snow was formed but it still seemed amazing to me. Bella didn't see the wonder.

"See you at lunch," I said as I entered the gym, Bella didn't seem to hear and I laughed as I was tempted to throw a snowball at her retreating form.

I got caught in a snowball fight on the way to the cafeteria and instead of run away like I noticed Bella doing with Jessica I joined in with Mike and Eric and a few of the other kids who seemed elated by the first snowfall of the year. I arrived in the cafeteria later then the others. I saw Bella sitting at the table between Jessica and Angela. She was sipping a soda and looking thoroughly uncomfortable. I felt worried for a minute that something was wrong but as I glanced around the cafeteria my eyes stopped at the Cullen table. Edward was back. I quickly walked to the table not bothering to get anything to eat, and sat across from Bella who looked at me nervously.

"Are you sure you're feeling alright?" Mike asked her with genuine concern. Bella just nodded.

I saw her eyes flick over to the Cullen table. I decided not to look. I was taking extra special care to concentrate on my conversation with Jessica. I didn't forget my rule regarding Edward's special abilities.

"Bella, what are you staring at?"Jessica interrupted, her gaze following Bella's.

"Do you know why Edward was away?" I asked her, trying to cover for Bella. Her eyes were on the table and her hair was covering her face.

"No idea," said Jessica and continued her conversation as if it wasn't interrupted. I looked up at the Cullen's table. Edward was looking at Bella, but his face was no longer fierce but a filled instead with curiosity.

"He doesn't look angry." I whispered to Bella across the table. Bella looked at me wide eyed and then her brown furrowed with confusion. She peaked over to him. I joined in the conversation Mike was having. He was planning an epic snowball fight afterschool. I smiled at the thought but wondered if Bella would let me in her truck afterwards. When the bell rang Bella stood up quickly, she looked slightly nervous.

"Good luck," I whispered to her on my way past and I gave her shoulder a supportive squeeze. She smiled at me appreciatively.

The snow had now turned to rain that was washing away any signs of the earlier snow. Mike groaned loudly and started to complain to Bella as they walked towards Biology. I could see a small smile of Bella's lips. I went off to Government and found myself wondering how Bella was going in Biology. This was a crucial moment after all; this was when they have their first conversation. I also felt slightly sad, but I couldn't quite place why.

After school I waited for Bella beside her truck as the rain soaked through my hair. I was well aware of Edward Cullen standing beside his Volvo across the lot but I was determined to not look over and not think of anything compromising. Bella walked quickly over to me and apologised for being late. Her face was flushed a light pink and she opened the truck and turned on the heat. She paused for a moment to dry her hair out in the heater. She must have noticed Edward then because she flushed a brighter red. I didn't mention anything, but I couldn't help but feel slightly satisfied that she and Edward were getting it together. Bella began to back out of the lot. In my side mirror I saw her coming so very close to a Toyota Corolla that was parked behind us.

"Bella!" I yelled at her and she braked quickly, just avoiding the small car which we would have demolished. Bella blushed deeply but didn't say anything as she turned around. I laughed and shook my head and as me and Bella turned simultaneously to look towards the Volvo and Edward Cullen was laughing with us.

I woke up in Texas feeling exuberant. Lately my mood in Forks seemed to directly correlate with my mood at home, a phenomenon that my sister had not missed.

"You're still dreaming of Forks," she told one afternoon as she came and sat on the end of my bed. I raised my eyebrow at her but there was no use pretending.

"Yeah," I admitted, "When I go to sleep there I was up here and when I got to sleep here I wake up there. Everything is exactly the same as the book. Everyone is there."

"Everyone plus you," corrected Eleanor. "So what is different from the book?"

"Nothing," I told her, "Everything is the same."

"But you're their," she told me pointedly. I nodded frustrated at her telling me something I obviously already knew. "So that's something that isn't the same,"

I paused for a moment. "What do you mean?"

"Well, I've been thinking about this," she said turning to me, excited at finally being asked the question. "And you being there must change things. I was watching Back to The Future on television and that got me thinking. It must be a bit like that. If you change any part of the past the future changes."

I stared at her for a moment, not understanding what she meant. She rolled her eyes. "The Bella in the book never had a proper friend before Edward came along. So you don't know what will happen. The things in the book happened to a Bella who didn't know you. You don't know what will happen to this Bella." She lay back and watched my face digest what she was saying. "This Bella might not even end up with Edward." She added for effect.

"Yes she will," I snapped at her. But what she was saying made sense. "Bella and Edward have already started to get together and I barely ever see Bella we just ride to school together." I didn't know who I was convincing, her or me.

"So Edward has saved Bella from the truck crash?" she asked me.

"Not yet," I told her. "But I'm sure that's soon. It's started snowing."

"So that fact that you will be riding with her won't affect the outcome of that scene at all," she looked at me as comprehension dawned on my face.

"I won't ride with her until that happens," I said quickly.

"You should consider just staying away from her," Eleanor said smugly, "Or you may ruin the greatest love story of the 21st centaury."

I woke up in Forks to a thick blanket of snow covering the ground and I knew that today was the day. I considered maybe not going in at all to be well out of the way but instead I just decided that I would keep well out of the way. I called Bella and told her that I would be running late this morning and would drive myself to school. I didn't leave any later then normal though, I found myself anxious to get to school. When I arrived the car park was nearly empty. I parked my beetle well away from where I thought the impact zone was and I sat quietly in the cold and waited. In a few minutes that car park began to fill and a breathed a sigh of relief when I heard Bella's Chevy truck enter the drive. I stayed put as she got out of the cab and I laughed as she slipped slightly on the ice. I looked over at the silver Volvo were Edward and his family were standing. Edward was looking towards Bella but Alice was looking towards my car. I smiled slightly at her, suddenly feeling uncomfortable under her gaze.

The squealing tires pulled me and Alice out of our eye lock. I leaped from my car and watched in horror as the blue van was skidding out of control towards a frozen Bella. I looked over at Edward who looked panic stricken.

_Go save her,_ I thought as he didn't move. His eyes flashed to mine and my heart fell as the van was getting closer to Bella. I didn't want her to die because of me. _Go. _I thought so loudly I was sure his ears must have hurt. He was gone, so fast I couldn't see him move. I watched as the van wrapped around Bella's truck and I groaned for the Chevy. I couldn't see Bella but I knew that behind all that mess she must be alright. I was running before the scene had finished. Everyone else was still glued to the spot. I reached the truck before it had settled to a standstill. I heard someone scream behind me. I crawled over the top of the Van's bonnet to look down at Bella sitting completely unharmed on the ground. Edward was crouched next to her.

"Bella!" I yelled as the mayhem started around us. She looked up from her conversation with Edward. "Are you ok?" I asked, but I felt like I wanted to laugh at the expression on Edwards face.

"I feel fine," she told me, "Edward saved me." She told me, locking eyes with Edward. He clenched his jaw.

"I know," I told her, she seemed to miss this point. But Edward didn't his eyes flashed to me, I stared back defiantly leaving my mind blank of thought. He looked from Bella to me and looked frustrated. Coach Clapp helped me down from the front of the Van and gave me a small lecture about the danger before he helped Mr. Varner and six EMT's to move the van out of the way. Bella flushed bright red as the EMT's put a neck brace on her and loaded her up onto a stretcher.

"I'm fine," she tried to tell them, but they ignored her. Charlie turned in a few minutes.

"Bella!" he had yelled, his face twisted in panic, when he realised it was her on the stretcher.

"I'm completely fine, Char — Dad," Bella sighed. "There's nothing wrong with me." He turned to the closest EMT for a second opinion. I stood next to Bella's stretcher not saying much. Bella seemed to be in her thoughts. They began to load Bella into the ambulance and I waited awkwardly by the side. Charlie saved me.

"Do you want to ride with me to the hospital?" Charlie asked me, looking anxious. I was touched that he thought of me.

"Sure," I told him walking with him towards the cruiser.

"Maybe someone could look at that." He motioned towards my hand and I looked at it. In the middle of my palm was a small cut that was bleeding down my fingers. I looked at it in shock. As I looked at it I noticed that it was stinging. I didn't understand. How could I bleed?

"I must have cut it on glass when I climbed on the car to see if Bella was alright," I whispered as I sat in the car. It slowly started to throb.

"Well Bella's lucky to have a friend like you," he said, staring at the road. "But don't worry I don't think it's that bad."

If only you knew, I thought to myself. A million thoughts were running through my head. If I could hurt and bleed here did that mean I could die?

At the hospital Charlie and I waited for Bella in the waiting room. Jessica, Mike and Eric joined us shortly. Bella came out not long after she went in. She was flushed red. Charlie hurried over to her but she put up her hands.

"There's nothing wrong with me," she said sullenly. I chuckled at her temper and Mike raised an eyebrow at me. I walked over to them but I didn't say anything.

"What did the doctor say?"

"Dr. Cullen saw me, and he said I was fine and I could go home." She looked at Jessica, Mike and Eric who were about to converge. "Let's go."

Charlie led her out the door and I followed. Bella waved at them and they smiled back reluctantly.

In the car he told her guiltily, "Um...You need to call Renee"

"You told Mom!" she was appalled and I giggled in the backseat. She slammed the cruiser door on her way out.

"If you want Charlie you could drop me at school and I could drive Bella's truck back for you if you want,"

Charlie agreed and he followed me carefully as I drove the roaring Chevy back to Bella's house. I parked it out the front and then climbed back into the Cruiser so that Charlie could take me back to school.

Back at school I decided that I didn't particularly want to go back inside so instead I drove home. I was quite happy with myself that Eleanor's prediction didn't come true.

Over the next week Bella was indicated with unwanted attention from the accident. She often shot me pleading glances when Tyler Crowley followed her around between classes. I apologised but not even I could get this spotlight off her. I didn't want to tell her the Tyler was in my gym class and asked me every 10 minutes if she was alright.

She tried again and again to tell people that Edward had saved her but everybody seemed to just shrug this fact off. Her face fell each time someone rejected her theory. I wanted to tell her that I saw him across the lot, but I knew that it would put me in a compromising position. I was spending the time when I wasn't with Bella avoiding members of the Cullen family. The day after the accident Edward had come up to me while I was walking alone to Government with a questioning gaze. I concentrated on counting in Spanish and he stormed away frustrated.

"I saw him," I finally gave in after Bella had spent another afternoon on my lounge telling me about how he had stopped the van.

"I know how strange that sounds," she told me, missing my statement.

"I saw him Bella," I told her again and she looked over to me as if just noticing I was there.

"What?" she asked me, her brow creased in confusion.

"I saw him standing next to him car and then next thing I know he was behind the van with you," she stared at me wide eyed. "But I don't know how he did it," I added quickly before she could question me further. Bella than launched into telling me about Edward's strange behaviour towards her after the accident.

"I think he regrets saving me," she added quietly at the end.

"I don't think that would be it," I told her softly.

"What then?" she asked, and I shrugged stupidly.

On the first Wednesday in March I picked Bella up for school and she told me about how Jessica called her and asked her permission to ask Mike to the Spring Fling.

"Who are you going to ask?" I played along as I saw her recoil in shock.

"I'm not going," she told me passionately, but then added on the end. "What about you?"

I paused for a moment. I hadn't thought about the dance. There was no reason why I couldn't go. "I haven't thought about it," I shrugged. It was the one thing both of my worlds had in common. I had no love life. Now it was Bella's turn to smile audaciously.

Jessica was unusually quite during Calculus and Spanish and at lunch time she sat as far away from Mike as possibly, talking animatedly to Eric. "Trouble in paradise," I whispered to Bella as we took our usual seats next to each other. She followed my gaze and groaned, guessing the same thing I did. When the lunch bell rang Mike jumped up to quickly rush to Bella's side. I saw Jessica narrow her eyes. I felt Bella stiffen as Mike started awkward conversation, he kept looking towards me.

"I think I forgot something at the cafeteria," I said slowly, and Mike's face brightened while Bella looked at me pleadingly. I saw Edward look over towards us with a small smile on his lips. "I had better go get it," I smiled as Bella mouthed "Traitor."

I doubled back so that I could walk behind them and listen as Bella struggled to decline Mike's invitation to the dance. She did better then I expected her too.

Afterschool I had to hang back because I noticed Eric was standing beside my Beetle, and I knew he wasn't waiting for me. I also had to stand where Bella wouldn't see me and ask what I was hiding from. So I ended up standing in some trees on the side of the car park trying to think up an excuse for being there if anyone noticed me.

"How do you know what he wants?" asked a smooth, velvet voice from behind me. I jumped, startled.

"I don't know what you're talking about," I told him and I focused stubbornly on a leaf on the ground. Bella had reached my car and was now talking to Eric. Edward growled slightly but continued past me towards his Volvo.

Eric was now walking away so I continued past Edward to my car. Bella was looking around impatiently when I arrived.

"What were you doing over there?" she asked me, looking towards the trees.

"Nothing," I said quickly, than got in the car. "What did Eric want?" I asked changing the subject. Bella blushed deep scarlet. Just as I was about to reverse Edward's shiny Volvo pulled out behind me cutting me off. I slammed on the brakes and cursed under my breath. Bella looked at the car behind us and blushed. I followed Edward's gaze over to the cafeteria where his family was waiting. I began to wind down my window to yell at him to move when Tyler Crowley knocked on Bella's window. I looked over at Tyler's car which he left with the door open and still running. He knocked on the window again and I unwound it from my side since it was obvious Bella was set to ignore him like he wasn't there.

She glared at me slightly."Hey Tyler," I greeted him and he smiled at me and then looked awkwardly at Bella. "Let me guess you are so sorry for almost crushing her to death?"

A smile pulled on Bella's lips. "Ah – actually I just wanted to ask Bella something while she was trapped here." Bella's smile faded into a look that clearly showed she was thinking of getting out and walking.

"Actually Tyler I was wondering if you would come to the spring fling with me?" The words were coming out of my mouth before I knew what was happening and Tyler and Bella looked at me with surprise. Tyler looked at Bella awkwardly. I widened my eyes into the best impression of pleading. These big blue eyes had better be good for something.

"Um..."Tyler hesitated for a minute before giving Bella one last wistful look. "Sure Leighton, that sounds great."

"Great. Well I'll talk to you about it tomorrow?"

"Sure," smiled Tyler, before running back to his car. Bella grinned at me as I let my smile fade away after Tyler was gone.  
"I hope you didn't want to go with him," I told her as she began to chuckle with laughter.

"Thank you," she laughed.

"That's ok," I said loudly, willing Edward to listen. "I didn't want to watch you suffer through that." Bella nodded, obviously wondering if I hadn't suffered a blow to the head today. I looked behind me into the silver Volvo behind us. Edward was laughing with his eyes locked with Bella's he glanced at me briefly before speeding away.

Bella and I drove in silence until we reached the Highway.

"I don't want to go to the Spring Fling with Tyler Crowley!" I exclaimed and Bella exploded into laughter.

"It might be fun," she suggested, and I looked at her sceptically.

"Edward decided to speak to me again today," she told me, not bothering to withhold the bitterness or frustration from her voice. "He told me 'It would be better if we weren't friends'. What does that mean?"

"I dunno," I said, "Remind me again why you aren't going to this stupid dance?"

"I'm going to Seattle," she said, and when I looked shot her a look of disbelief she added. "I hate dancing."

"You are forever in my debt you realise that right?"

She laughed but nodded enthusiastically. I dropped Bella home, not staying this afternoon and headed back to my house. My mum was super excited about the idea of me going to the dance and when Jessica called five minutes later to tell me that Mike had accepted her invitation she was ecstatic. She suggested the idea of going on a trip to Port Angeles to go dress shopping. I told her that was a good idea before hurrying to get off the phone with her. I quickly got dressed for bed and got ready to slip into my other life.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five – The Butterfly Effect

"You're going to Spring Fling with Tyler Crowley?" Eleanor gushed. She was sprawled out on my bed. She had been demanding daily updates on the Twilight situation and was now staring at me opened mouthed. "Why didn't you ask Mike? Isn't he the better looking one?"

I laughed and threw a pillow at her. "I was only trying to help Bella out. I don't want to go at all." At first it felt strange to talk about the strange second life I had adopted for myself, but now the words flowed out easily around Eleanor.

"It sounds like she's a lot happier then she was in the book," Eleanor said, closing her eyes. "I think I like your Bella better."

"She's not unhappy," I defended, "She's just introverted and anyway I'm sure she's suppose to hit it off with Edward any day now."

"You don't know when?"

"No,"

"Aren't you referencing the book?" she asked, looking up at me.

"No,"

"Leighton!" she exclaimed, sitting up straight.

"What?"

"Why aren't you referencing the book? How many times have you even read it?"

"I've read the whole series once. Why do I need to reference it?"

"So you know when Bella is going to play baseball and when Edwards wants to leave her. They are the two main things that I've thought of at the moment but I've been trying to think in cause and effect –"

"-What are you talking about?" I cut her off mid sentence.

"Do you know what cause and effect is Leighton? You've seen The Butterfly Effect."

"I know what it is I just don't know what you're talking about."

Eleanor shook her head. "Well I was thinking about how much pain you could save Bella from. If you could stop James from hunting her then she will never get hurt at the end of the year – Victoria will never hunt her in the second and third book. And I know that it's a while away but in the second book if Edward doesn't leave her then you can save them from the Volturi in the second and forth book."

I stared at her with my mouth open. "No," I told her instantly.

"Why not?" she asked indignantly.

"Because a few weeks ago you told me not to interfere! I'm not getting involved Ellie. I'm just going to wait it out."

"But you can help them," she looked at me suddenly like I was some kind of monster.

"They're not even real!" I exclaimed. Eleanor looked like I slapped her.

"That's funny because I've never seen you feel like this about anyone who is real. They brought you back to life and you're just too afraid to admit it."

"Get out!" I yelled at her and she stormed from my bedroom.

The next day Bella and I rode separately to school. I was still fuming from my fight with Eleanor and I was determined to be invisible that day and not talk to anyone. Bella was late to English and she took her normal seat beside me but I didn't even try to speak to her. Her face was flushed so I assumed something was going on with Edward. Mike didn't sit with us in English. Instead he looked at Bella moodily, obviously still cut up about her rejection.

_If I was going to help anyone out I should help him out, _I thought to myself moodily. I should just say to him give it up already she is going to marry Cullen and have half vampire babies. I should just go and tell Edward everything that is going to happen right now so that I won't know anything that is going to happen. If I changed anything the whole future would change and I wouldn't have anymore chance of predicting it than Bella would. And knowing Bella; how she really was a walking magnet for disaster, something else would just sneak up to get her. And how did I know that it would turn out ok like I did now? So I set my mind to letting everything play out as best I could. I knew that Bella would get her happy ending. After English Mike seemed to decide that he couldn't be mad at Bella for long and he started to chat to us again. This time he brought up his idea of visiting La Push Beach again. Bella was pretending to sound very interested, probably because she felt guilty, but Mike didn't seem to notice.

At lunch time Edward was sitting alone and he beckoned Bella to join him at his table.

"Does he mean you?" asked Jessica with insulting astonishment. I glared at her but smiled at Bella and told her to get going. She looked at me curiously and blushed.

"Why is she sitting with Cullen?" asked Mike, and I started a conversation with Angela about the spring fling, trying to ignore Mike and Jessica's insulting comments.

"Are they having a fight?" asked Mike, him and Jessica were openly watching them like they were a TV show.

"Can you two give them some privacy?" I finally asked. Everyone turned to stare at me. Jessica raised an eyebrow. "I mean really. You don't have to stare." I said with less gusto then before. They fell quite after that, with Jessica looking at me from the corner of her eye. I looked over to where Bella sat and I could have sworn that Edward nodded in my direction.

I went through the rest of the day like a Zombie. There were a few times where Angela had to yell my name to get me to notice her and probably countless times where didn't notice she was talking at all. I ran into Mike as I was on my way to my Beetle and he told me that Bella had gone home sick from Biology. I only nodded at him and I thought that maybe he was expecting more of a reaction from me.

"I don't like her hanging around with Cullen," he told me, again he was looking at me expectantly.

I shrugged and opened my car door.

"So we're meeting at 10 on Saturday at my parent's store,"

I looked at him blankly.

"For La Push," he told me. He was looking at me like he thought I was mentally incompetent.

"Oh. Sure I'll see you then." I told him, and I waved at him as enthusiastically as I could muster.

I called Bella that night just to check that she was alright. I told her of my conversation with Mike that afternoon and she giggled.

"Edward told me that you stuck up for me at lunch," she told me.

"No problem. Mike and Jessica really need to get a grip." I told her, but Bella was silent on the other end. She was deep in thought. I said goodbye after that. I knew that I would see her tomorrow at school. The rain was pounding down and I spent the night studying Macbeth for English. My door creaked open and my Mum came in and sat on the edge of the bed.

"So I haven't seen Bella in a while. You two aren't fighting are you?" She came right out and said it and I rolled my eyes.

"She's gotten a boyfriend," I told her and I didn't mean to sound bitter about it. I was still in my bad mood but I didn't want to make it sound like I was jealous so I softened my voice. "She's been pretty busy lately."

"Well if you want to see her just say so. She's a good kid I'm sure she'd make some time for you." She got up and left, leaving me with my thoughts.

"You can't fight an eclipse," I muttered under my breath and even I was shocked by my own bitterness. _Now I know how Jacob feels,_ I thought. In truth, Jacob was the only character in the book that I thought got the short end of the stick. If I was going to warn anyone what was coming for them I would warn him.

The next day Bella came to pick me up in the morning. I came down stairs to find her sitting in the kitchen chatting to my Mum.

"Morning," I told both of them,

"Do you want to ride to school with me?" asked Bella, holding up her keys hopefully. I smiled.

"You are forever in my debt remember?" I pointed out to her and she laughed happily.

At school she looked hopefully around the car park but her expression quickly turned to disappointment.

"Is he not coming today?" I asked, and she flushed red.

"No. He's going camping with his brother Emmett." She said disappointed.

"You'll tell me what's been happening with you two tomorrow," it wasn't a question and Bella nodded. It felt nicer hearing it from her even though I already knew most of it.

Bella was distracted for the majority of the day, so I joined in with the others who were planning the trip to La Push for tomorrow. It sounded like it might even be the first day of sunshine for the whole time that I had been there. After lunch Bella and I walked in silence behind Mike and Lauren. All lunch Lauren had glared at Bella, who I hoped was blissfully unaware of it, but now Lauren said loudly, "…don't know why Bella" — she sneered her name — "doesn't just sit with the Cullens from now on."

I looked at the back of her head in shock while Bella dropped her gaze to her feet and flushed red. "Don't worry about her," I whispered in her ear as Mike replied to Lauren, "She's my friend; she sits with us."

Bella slowed down and let Angela and Jess pass us. I made a mental note not to be nice to Lauren again.

The next day I woke to sunshine and it felt like seeing a long lost friend. I went outside and let the sun shine onto my face for a moment before Bella pulled up and we went to the Newton's Olympic Outfitters store just north of town. Out the front of the store were Mike's Suburban and Tyler's Sentra. The group was standing around the front of the Suburban. I could see Mike, Tyler, Jess, Angela, Lauren, Ben, Connor and three other girls that I recognised from school. One of the girl's eyes narrowed when Bella pulled up and she whispered in Lauren's ear. Lauren giggled and glared at Bella as well. It reminded me why I was so glad to finally graduate high-school and now I was stuck here again.

"Here we go," I said to Bella as we got out of the truck and she set her face to a passive expression.

"You came!" Mike exclaimed when we got out of the car, though it was more to Bella then me.

"I told you we were coming," Bella pointed out, but Mike ignored her.

"We're just waiting for Lee and Samantha...Unless you invited someone?" He looked at Bella pointedly.

Bella didn't even blush, "No."

"Will you ride in my car? It's either that or Lee's mum's minivan."

"Sure," answered Bella, and I left her to it and walked towards Angela who greeted me with a large smile. She was the only person besides Bella who felt genuine and I had grown to be quite fond of her. It was only fifteen miles to La Push from Forks, with gorgeous, dense green forests edging the road most of the way and the wide Quillayute River snaking beneath it twice. I was glad I had the window seat. We'd rolled the windows down — the Suburban was a bit claustrophobic with nine people in it — and I chatted with Tyler about Spring Fling. Bella was in the front seat wedged between Jessica and the door. Her head was resting just near the open window and her eyes were closed. Angela was telling me about the colour of the dress she wanted to buy when we pulled into the beach. I had never been to First Beach before and even though I had imagined this very moment – seeing it through Bella's eyes - the beauty of it took my breath away. The water was dark gray, even in the sunlight, white-capped and heaving to the gray, rocky shore. Islands rose out of the steel harbor waters with sheer cliff sides, reaching to uneven summits, and crowned with austere, soaring firs. The beach had only a thin border of actual sand at the water's edge, after which it grew into millions of large, smooth stones that looked uniformly gray from a distance, but close up were every shade a stone could be: terra-cotta, sea green, lavender, blue gray, dull gold. The tide line was strewn with huge driftwood trees, bleached bone white in the salt waves, some piled together against the edge of the forest fringe, some lying solitary, just out of reach of the waves. There was a brisk wind coming off the waves, cool and briny. Pelicans floated on the swells while seagulls and a lone eagle wheeled above them. The clouds still circled the sky, threatening to invade at any moment, but for now the sun shone bravely in its halo of blue sky. We all gathered around a ring of driftwood logs that had obviously been used for a fire before. A ring of stones surrounded a pile of ash and burnt wood. Ben and Eric went off to gather driftwood and I decided to join them. Soon we had a tepee-shaped construction built on the old cinders.

I went and took a seat away from the group of gossiping girls. Bella was in the middle of it with Mike who was talking to her while he lit the fire. The flames burned bright blue and then green and I watched them in silence as they seemed to mesmerise me. Shortly some of the boys suggested a hike to the rock pools. Bella locked eyes with me from across the fire and I shook my head softly. I didn't feel like walking anywhere now that I was comfortable. Lauren then voiced that she was staying and I groaned loudly enough for her to glare at me and Bella to smile. All the girls stayed except for Angela and Jessica and Eric and Tyler decided to stay. Silently Bella got up and moved towards the group that were going hiking. Mike grinned at her while Tyler and Eric looked disappointed.

As soon as the group left the girls began their excited chatter again, I wasn't following what they were saying, which was lucky because they weren't including me anyway. Eric and Tyler came to sit by me and asked me some more questions about where I was from. I realised that for all the time that I had been here I hadn't really gotten to know anyone but Bella. I had spent all my time making sure that Edward and Bella went to plan that I hadn't spent anytime just making friends. Maybe these people weren't the stars of the book but they were still characters which I thought was pretty cool anyway. I started to chat more animatedly to Eric and Tyler who seemed happy that I pulled myself out of my funk. Not long after the hiking group had left a group of kids from the reservation came over to introduce themselves. The eldest of the group introduced himself, his name was Sam and I tried to keep my face smooth. He introduced the seven others around him, my eyes locked with the youngest of the group when he was introduced. Jacob Black. Eric introduced our group and when he introduced me one of the boys mouth fell open.

"Are you Mrs. Summer's daughter?" he asked loudly, and everyone in the group turned to me. I saw a smile play on Jacob's face. He was the same as I imagined him. He had long silky black hair and beautiful copper skin.

"She is!" someone else yelled before I could even answer, "They have the same eyes!"

I smiled shyly, "You caught me."

The kids from the reservation hooted loudly. And some of them came over to me to tell me stories about my mum. I was glad to hear that they liked her as much as she thought.

Jacob came over and took a seat next to me.

"My mum thinks that you're a pain in the butt," I told him, and he smiled his goofy smile.

"Really? Because she tells me you are." He laughed as I couldn't think of anything to say.

I couldn't believe I'd somehow forgotten how young he was. He was only 15 or 16.

Someone broke out the food and started sharing it around and Jacob and I sat and shared polite conversation.

"So what does your mum say about me?" he asked through a mouthful of food.

"What does she say about me?" I asked, and he stared at me stubbornly but I returned his glare.

"She hasn't said anything really. Just that she has a daughter our age."

"She hasn't said anything really. Just that you are a pain in the butt." He laughed and ate more food. The hiking group arrived back and Eric introduced everyone. Jacob's head snapped up when Bella was introduces and I couldn't help but groan inwardly. It was the beginning of the end.

Bella walked over to take a seat next to me and ate quietly. As soon as everyone had finished eating they began to take off in twos and threes. I looked from Jacob – who was talking to one of the other boys from the reservations – to Bella and I wondered if I should take off somewhere too. I decided not too. Soon Jacob tuned his attention to Bella.

"So you're Isabelle Swan?" he asked and I saw the annoyance cross Bella's face

"Bella," she sighed.

"I'm Jacob Black," he held out his hand as a friendly gesture. Bella accepted. "You brought my dad's truck."

Bella looked relieved that she knew him – sort of. "Oh. You're Billy's son. I probably should remember you."

"No, I'm the youngest of the family — you would remember my older sisters."

"Rachel and Rebecca. Are they here?" she looked around at the small group.

"No." Jacob shook his head. "Rachel got a scholarship to Washington State, and Rebecca married a Samoan surfer — she lives in Hawaii now."

"Married. Wow." Said Bella, stunned. And I had to hold in my laugh. If only she knew.

"So do you like the truck?" Jacob asked eagerly

"I love it. It runs great." Bella said and I laughed.

"I'm sorry. I love it too. It's just slow." I said and Jacob laughed and nodded.

"I was so relived when Charlie bought it. My dad wouldn't let me work on building another car when we had a perfectly good vehicle right there."

"It's not that slow!" Bella defended and I laughed some more. It took us nearly twice the time to get home when Bella drove in her truck. It wasn't all the truck's fault though Bella was very steady on the peddle. Her dad was the police chief after all.

"Have you tried to go over sixty?" asked Jacob

"No," Bella admitted.

"Good. Don't" Jacob grinned.

"It does great in a collision," offered Bella.

"I don't think a tank could take out that monster," he agreed with a laugh.

"So you build cars?" I asked him

"When I have free time, and parts. You wouldn't happen to know where I could get my hands on a master cylinder for a 1986 Volkswagen Rabbit?" He had a nice, husky voice.

"Sorry," joked Bella

"Maybe," I added "If I knew what that was."

Jacob rolled his eyes but smiled at me warmly. He had a great smile. It was strange looking at someone and knowing what their future was going to be. I bet that he wouldn't even believe me if I told him.

"Do you two know Jacob?" asked Lauren from across the fire. Bella looked at her.

"Leighton's mum is my teacher at school and Bella and I have sort of known each other since we were born."

"Oh that's nice," she said in a way that sounded like it was anything but nice. I glared at her.

"It's too bad the Cullen's couldn't come," she continued despite my glare. "Did anyone think of inviting them?"

Sam looked over at us. He really was very tall. "Is that Dr. Carlisle Cullens family?" he asked in a voice of authority.

"Yes, do you know them?" she asked condescendingly.

"The Cullen's don't come here," he said, and that ended the conversation. I saw something dawn on Bella's face and I decided to leave her to work her magic on Jacob. I went and sat on the other side of the circle next to Sam. Turned and looked at me as Jacob and Bella stood to go off alone. I looked over at Tyler and Lauren who were now deep in conversation over the music.

"I know what you are," I told him, though I wasn't quite sure why. Maybe it was because the stress of not telling anyone was building up inside me and finally it just exploded. I wasn't even entirely sure if I knew who he was. I didn't remember reading exactly when it was that Sam changed. But he sure looked big enough to be a werewolf to me.

"Excuse me?" he asked, but he kept his voice to a whisper.

"Werewolf," I whispered back at him and I watched the shock cross his face. He was still sitting in shock when I got off to go for a walk. I suddenly decided that I didn't really want to explain to him how I knew that. Even in this crazy world it sounded insane.

I walked through the forest though I had no idea of where I was going. I heard footsteps behind me and I turned to find Sam following after me.

"How did you know that?" he asked me, he was trying his best to keep his voice commanding but I could hear what he was trying to mask – fear.

"You don't have to worry about me. I won't tell anyone. No treaty was broken or anything." This seemed to shock him more. He took a step towards me, his large figure towering over me. I wasn't afraid though.

"I don't know." I told him honestly. My voice was breaking and I didn't know why. "I don't know what's happening to me."

I walked past Sam as I wiped the angry tears from my face. I walked through the forest for a while until I could hear people calling my name. I followed the sound until I made it to the beach.

"Leighton! There you are!" said Tyler, rushing up to me. He looked worried. "I've found her!" he yelled out to the others. I followed him back to where the group was waiting to leave. Sam wasn't anywhere to be seen.

"Where were you?" asked Tyler, "It looks like it might rain soon. We're packing up to leave."

I looked up at the sky. It was now covered in a dark and ominous layer of clouds.

"I just went for a walk," I shrugged as large droplets of rain began to fall. They left dark circles on the rocks when they fell.

"You should have told one of us and we would have went with you,"

I smiled at his concern but told him it was unnecessary. At the car the group was loading the last of things back into the car. Jacob smiled warmly when he saw me.

"Well it was nice to meet you Jacob,"

"It was nice to meet you too. Tell your mum I said hi." He smiled playfully.

"I think you see her more than I do these days,"

He thought about this for a moment, "I guess so. I'll tell her you said hi then."

I smiled reluctantly. Just looking at him seemed to pull the corners of my mouth upwards. It was like you couldn't help being happy around him.

"I'll see you around Jacob,"

"See you," he waved at the car as it pulled away and I looked over at Bella whose eyes were glazed over as she was deep in thought. I thought of the irony that I had somehow managed to get all the way to her world and yet even though we shared a car we were in two different places.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six – Lonely Boy

Bella and I barely spoke as she dropped me out the front of my house. I walked inside and past my mum, who was lying on the lounge room floor, without a word. I didn't have anything to say to anyone.

I fell onto my bed and the tears from earlier that day began their unrelenting flow. I was sobbing into my pillow when mum opened my door and silently came and lay on the bed besides me. She gently wrapped her arms around my shoulders and I moved so that I was sobbing into her chest.

"I don't want to be here," I told her between sobs. And it was the closest thing to the truth I had said in days. I didn't want to be there. I liked the Twilight world when I was channelling it through a book. I was here, but I couldn't ever really be here for fear of changing something. Instead, I had to stay out of things as much as possible. I wasn't allowed to get involved in people's lives. I was here, but I had to pretend like I was.

I was quite literally being pulled into two people and it was exhausting. I couldn't manage the life that I had and now I had two and they were both crumbling. Neither of them was fulfilled, both of them were lonely.

"Oh sweetheart," my mum purred, her voice soft in my ear. "What can I do to help? Did we make a mistake moving here?"

"We didn't have a choice," I told her, and then fell asleep in her arms.

I woke up in my Texan bedroom and was filled with the familiar feeling of resentment. It was a Sunday and I didn't have to go to work so I decided I would instead stay in bed and read. My friends had long ago stopped calling after the few times I had gone out with them I was too distracted to be any fun and I couldn't tell them what was wrong.

I grabbed off my shelf the first Harry Potter book, knowing that it would almost certainly be able to take my mind off things as it had on a many occasion before. After about an hour of reading my bedroom door cracked open and Eleanor peaked inside. I had barely spoken to her since we had fought and I wasn't feeling up to another argument.

"I really don't want to talk about anything Twilight related," I told her bluntly.

"It's not that," she said, entering my room and sitting on the end of my bed. She was fidgeting and her cheeks were glowing red.

"What is it?" I asked, putting down my book.

"Michael Smith asked me on a _date_," she spat out. She was fighting a smile, as if she wasn't quite sure if that was appropriate. The first thought that came into my mind was _who_ exactly is Michael Smith. I hadn't heard her mention him before. She hadn't come to me asking me to decipher any text messages for her. I felt tears well up in my eyes as I realised that I had missed this because I was stuck in my own world, or two worlds.

"Aw, what's wrong Leighton?" asked Eleanor worriedly. She rushed to my side to give me a hug. She smelled like mint and honey.

"Who's Michael Smith?" I sobbed, and she laughed.

"Don't worry," she told me, "I know you've been so stressed out lately. I didn't want to lay my problems on you too."

This made me sob harder. "I don't want to do it anymore. I'm here but I'm not here and I'm there but I'm not there. I just want to be here. I want things to go back to normal. I don't want you dating."

Eleanor laughed and lent back against a pillow. She was almost as tall as me. I didn't know when she got so big; so grown up. "I've been thinking about this," she said seriously. "And I think that if you want to be here then you should just be here."

I looked at her sceptically, "What?"

"You've been walking around like a zombie for a month now and I think that if you want to be here then you need to just be here," she paused for a moment and looked me dead in the eyes. "And if you want to be in Forks you need to be there too. Stop holding back."

"But I thought you said –"

"Forget what I said earlier. I learnt a long time ago that in the end you're the one who is responsible for your own happiness. You can't be unhappy so that someone else can be happy. Bella and Edward are soul mates and I'm sure that they will work it out but you can't live like a ghost. You're a real person too."

"How did you learn that a long time ago?" I asked her. After all she was only thirteen. Eleanor blushed a deeper red and didn't look me in the eye.

"By watching you spend all your energy on trying to make Mum happy. Her being happy never made you any happier. I think it just made you more miserable."

"It's intimidating how smart you are," I told her, and she laughed.

"I know."

That night I was determined not to go to sleep. I just wanted to spend more time with my family. I was missing them. I wasn't ready to go back to Forks. I wanted to be at home.

I played several rounds of Boggle with my mum, which I lost because she told me I was too old to be allowed to use two letter words. Then she dragged herself off to bed. Eleanor followed not long after. She muttered something about school in the morning. I stayed awake playing round after round of spider solitaire on difficult. I continued to play even when my eyes began to ache and I was only blinking every ten seconds. By three o'clock in the morning I had managed to win two games and I was incredibly pleased with myself.

"Go to bed, Leighton." Eleanor was standing in the lounge room in her pink pyjamas.

"I'm not ready," I told her, not taking my eyes off the screen.

"You'll have to go back one day," she told me.

The next morning my head was throbbing from being on the computer for so long and my eyes were burning with tiredness. I dutifully went to work only to be sent home at lunch time. Despite being more tired then I had ever felt in my life I still tried to resist falling to sleep. For the first time in longer then a month I hadn't spent the night in Forks and it felt good to be so close to normal again. I held onto that feeling as I lay down on my bed and fell asleep.

Sunday in Forks was always my least favourite day of the week. The hours dragged on and I always found myself looking at the clock only to see that the hands hadn't moved. Today the sun was shining and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. My sister's words were ringing in my head. _Be there. _I didn't know if it would help anything in this late hour but I decided I would give it a go. I was going to start with being with the one person who was a foreigner in the story with me: my mum.

"Morning sweetheart," said Mum. She kissed my cheek and then made herself a coffee.

"Hey Mum. Could we do something together today? It's so nice outside I was thinking maybe we could go to Port Angeles or Seattle. We could see a movie or do some shopping."

"Oh honey. I'm so sorry. I've already made plans for today."

"Oh that's ok - wait. You have plans? Plans with whom?"

"With friends – I do have them you know."

"Where are you going?"

"To Port Angeles for lunch and a movie," she said sheepishly. Outside a car honked. "That's my cue. And Jessica called to say that tomorrow after school you are going to dress shopping in the City and they want to go in the Beetle so you are driving."

I smiled at her as she grabbed her jacket and ran out the door. I wasn't going to stay and mope around the house when it was so beautiful outside. I grabbed my car keys and drove to the highway. I had driven past the Newton's store and was half way out of town before I realised that I had no idea where I was going and I was into La Push before I decided that I was going to go to First Beach again. Unfortunately I wasn't quite there before my car began to splutter. I managed to pull onto the side of the road before it died completely.

I waited in the car for a moment, but when it was clear that no one was going to drive past I decided that I could walk the rest of the way to La Push and find help. It was a lovely day after all. As I reached the store my head was blissfully filled with nothing and I could feel the skin on my bare shoulders beginning to burn slightly. I wasn't paying attention to where I was going and I literally ran into the person leaving the store.

"Ouch," I grunted as I bounced off them onto the ground like I was a small child.

"Sorry!" they apologised and I looked up to see Jacob offering me a hand. I accepted it and he pulled me off the ground.

"Hi Jake," I smiled. His face lit up when he realised who I was.

"Leighton! What are you doing here?"

"My car broke down on the high way." I told him and he laughed. "I was closer to La Push than Forks."

"It broke down?"

"Yep. It just coughed and then died."

"It coughed?" he asked, a smile playing on his lips.

"Yeah. It sort of spluttered and then had complete engine failure." I tried to mimic the sound my car made in its dying moments which sent Jacob into hysterics. I found it hard to keep my face serious. "It's not funny! I love my car. And I have no way home. So unless you have a spare bedroom at your house could you please help me?" I did my best puppy impression of puppy dog eyes. Jacob's face lit up.

"No I'm going to make you walk back to Forks," he joked. "Of course I'll help you. But –" he looked slightly embarrassed. " – I can't drive yet but if we walk there I might be able to fix the problem."

"That would be so great" I breathed, "But if you had other plans I can get someone else to help me."

"Nah. I wasn't doing anything important." He promised. "And who would you get to help anyway?"

I pretended to think for a moment. "You're right. I don't know anyone here."

"Could you say that again?"

"I don't know anyone here."

"No the bit before that," He said, looking confused.

"You're right."

A smile slowly spread across his face. "And again?"

I couldn't help but laugh. Being with Jacob was comfortable, easy and inexplicable but it was the first thing in months that felt right. We chatted and joked on the way back to the car. I didn't feel like I needed to do something or be anyone other then who I was. It brought me back to the one question I was always coming back too: Why was I here? When I wasn't with Jacob that question weighed on my mind, and it made me tired, but when I was around him it seemed like insignificant knowledge. Who cared about the reasons why I was here? Did it even matter? Was there even a reason?

"Do you believe in fate?" I asked him as we approached the car. It seemed to grow on the horizon like a mirage in the desert. Jacob looked confused at my question but when he attained from my expression that it was serious his brow furrowed with thought.

"What do you mean fate?"

"Fate." I told him, swinging my arms around wildly as I tried to gesture to everything around me. "Do you think things are _meant_ to be? Or, do you believe things happen for a reason? Do you believe in coincidence?"

Jacob nodded and the crease in his brow got deeper.

"Don't give yourself a haemorrhage over it," I laughed and he rolled his eyes at me.

"I don't know," he finally said and I laughed. "Sometimes I like to think that things might happen for a reason. But then I think that people who want to make excuses for things say that."

"Excuses? What do you mean?"

"Like people who go: 'I got sacked from my job. It must have happened for a reason.' I know what the reason could have been. _You were really slack at work._" I laughed at the passion in his voice. "I think that there are some things out of our control, like the weather, but other than that we're in control of what happens to us."

I nodded. I appreciated someone other than my sister having an input into my situation – even if they didn't quite know what they were talking about.

"So do you like Forks?" Jacob asked as we reached my car and he pulled up the hood. I opened the driver's door and sat inside, leaving the door open so I could tan my legs in the sunlight.

"Yeah it's great," I said but even I realised that the expression sounded false. Jacob looked at me disbelievingly from over the bonnet. "Ok. It's not that bad," I conceded with notably less enthusiasm. "There is nothing to do. This weekend I finally got sick of it. That's why I was driving to the beach. I just want something to do."

"You can come and hang at La Push with me anytime you want," Jacob yelled from under the hood. I couldn't see his expression but I felt a smile spread across my face at the thought.  
"You don't know what you just got yourself into," I told him seriously and I heard him laugh throatily. "You'll be practically begging me to go back to Forks soon enough."

Jacob put down the hood and wiped the grease of his hands with his t-shirt. He looked grim and I felt myself bracing for bad news.

"What's wrong with it?" I cringed.

Jacob walked over to my open door and leant casually on the roof. His body blocked out the sun and I looked up at him from the shade.

"Do you wear glasses?" he asked me suddenly. He was looking down at my face as if he saw something that made he think I had glasses. Out of reflex I reached up and touched the bridge of my nose. I wore glasses in my other life but I never needed them here in Forks. I could see everything perfectly. I didn't understand what Jake had seen to make him believe that I wore glasses.

"Hey. Don't sweat on it." He smiled and reached in the cab and turned the key in the ignition so that the battery turned on. My dashboard lit up and the radio turned on. "I just thought that maybe you were blind and that was why you didn't see this." He pointed at a tiny red light on the dash. The fuel light.

"I'm out of gas?" I gasped. I felt my cheeks flush red with embarrassment.

"Yep. You drove it completely dry." He laughed at my reaction.

I got out of the driver's seat and walked under Jacob's arm towards the trunk. I felt a shiver go up my spine as my side grazed ever so lightly on his t-shirt. He smelt like wood and musk. It was like taking a deep breath in the forest. I opened up my trunk and pulled out the red plastic fuel container that was sitting in the back. I thanked my lucky stars that I hadn't taken it out yesterday afternoon when I cleaned out my car.

"Where's the nearest gas station?" I said with false enthusiasm.

"In Forks," Jacob laughed.

My face fell, which made Jacob laugh harder.

"What am I going to do?"

"You can bring that back to my house and I think I have some gas in my shed."

"Thank you," I mouthed to him and he smiled as we began our trek back to La Push. It was late afternoon when we arrived at Jacob's house. It was small yet homely looking. I could see the lounge room light on and hear a television broadcasting a sports game.

"Come in and meet Billy," said Jacob enthusiastically and before I could answer he grabbed my hand and pulled me towards the door. I let myself be pulled along to the front door. Jacob's hand didn't let go of mine when we got to the front door.

"Hi Jake," Billy said, not taking his eyes off the television. He had the same beautiful hair and high cheekbones.

"Dad this is Leighton," Jacob said, pulling me in the door. Billy looked around from television to me and his face turned to surprise.

"Why hello there," he said slowly and I smiled and gave him a small wave.

"It's really nice to meet you," I said.

Billy smiled at me warmly and rose and eyebrow at Jacob. "It's nice to meet you too," He said slowly. He looked at me again as if he was making sure that he was seeing correctly. "Do you live in Forks?"

"Yes. My mum and I just moved there actually from Hudson, Texas."

"Her mum is my teacher, Dad." Jacob said impatiently and I got the feeling that they had talked about us before.

"Oh yeah that's right," said Billy, and his attention returned to the game as someone scored.

"Let's go," Jacob whispered and he pulled me back out the door. We walked down to his shed in the backyard. I waited at the door admiring his half built Rabbit as Jacob dug in the one of the many piles of spare parts and cans.

"So you're building this from scratch?" I asked him. I inhaled deeply. I loved the smell of the grease and metal. I thought it was odd that Jacob could spend so much time in here when he smelled so much like the forest.

"Yeah. I've managed to find some great parts for it at the dump but like I said I'm stuck looking for a master cylinder."

"I've always wanted to learn about cars," I told him as I fingered the engine under the hood. Grease covered my finger.

"Really?" Jacob asked, looking over at me from where he was searching.

"Yeah. I've just never had anyone to teach me."

"What about your dad?" he asked

"He passed away when I was young," I told him quietly. It wasn't sad anymore. It was just a fact. Usually I avoided telling people because it made them feel awkward, but I felt comfortable telling Jacob. He didn't have the need to fill the silence with words.

"My mum died in a car accident," he told me and I knew that I didn't have to explain anything to him. He already knew. There was a secret universal language between people who had experienced grief and Jacob and I spoke it. "I found it," Jacob let out a breath of relief and held up a large can. "I think there should be enough in there to get you to the gas station." He carefully poured the dark liquid into my jerry can. I held my nose.

"Don't you like the smell?" he asked

"The total opposite, actually. I love it. I think if I smell it too much I'll become a petrol sniffing stoner."

He laughed. "You do look a bit like a stoner."

He jumped out of the way of my punch and tripped over some car parts. He handed me the jerry can.

"Thanks so much for this Jacob," I said genuinely. I really meant it too. "Thanks for the petrol and the company. I had fun."

"Yeah me too," said Jacob, "But I still have to walk you back to your car. So we have a little while yet."

"Oh no," I protested, "You're at home already. You don't have to walk all that way and then walk back alone. It's not that far. I'll be fine really."

"Leighton," said Jacob seriously. "It's getting dark. I'm hardly going to let you walk there alone in the dark."

"I'm a big girl Jacob," I insisted, "I'll be fine."

"Fine. Go." Said Jacob, crossing his arms across his chest. I gave a sigh of relief. I already felt guilty about him doing all this running around for me.

"Thanks so much for the fuel." I told him again and then I began the walk down the drive. The sun was beginning to disappear behind the trees and I watched as the last rays touched the ground at my feet. I didn't know when I would see them in Forks again. I was about a hundred metres down the road when I heard gravel crunching behind me. Instinctively I quickened my pace, hoping whoever it was would simply fall behind or turn off. I didn't have much further till the end of the houses in La Push. After I past the last house and the steps were still following behind me I felt adrenaline begin to pulse through me and my mind began to race through possibilities. I could run, but I wasn't very fit and I probably wouldn't make it to my car without going into cardiac arrest. I could scream but I doubted that anyone would her it out here. I could flag for a car but I hadn't seen one pass all day. That left me with one option; to fight. I pulled my car keys out of my pocket and in my haste dropped the on the ground. I cursed under my breath as I dropped to the ground to pick them up. The crunching gravel became progressively closer as I fumbled in the dark trying to find my keys. I found myself holding my breath as the steps were only a metre from me. I had stopped searching for my keys. My heart was in my throat. I didn't even know if I had any voice to try to scream.

"Leighton?" asked a familiar husky voice and I sat down on the ground. I let the relief was over me. I couldn't even speak all I could do was take deep breaths. "Leighton, are you alright?" asked Jacob, more concerned now. He knelt down beside me and I could see through the darkness his face creased with concern. "What happened?"

"I dropped my keys," I told him. And he smiled and picked them up from where they were lying centimetres from my hand. "I dropped my keys because I was so terrified I was about to be murdered." I told him, my relief being replaced with rage.

"Murdered? How?" he asked, confused.

"By the person following me from town!"

Comprehension dawned on his face, but instead of being apologetic he looked amused.

"I told you I wouldn't let you walk in the dark alone," he said and then added, "I bet you wished that I was with you when you thought you were being followed."

I scowled at him. "Go home Jacob." But he knew he was right. He loped along side me to my car. He helped me pour the fuel in. "Can I at least drive you home?" I asked. I felt guilty about driving off in the safety of my vehicle and leaving him to walk home.

"You don't have enough gas Leighton. You need to fill up as soon as you get into town."

He must have known that I felt bad because he smiled at me gently. "I'll be fine,"

I reached over into the back seat of my car where my school bag now lived permanently and pulled out a pen and a little piece of paper from one of my books and I wrote my home number on it.

"Could you do me a favour then Jake?" I asked him,

"Anything," he said keenly. I handed him the tiny piece of paper.

"Could you call me to let me know that you got home safely?"

His eyes widened as he read my messy handwriting. "Sure," he said slowly as his face lit up.

"Do you want to do something next weekend?" he asked casually,

I was surprised to find that I liked the idea of that. "I really would." I told him earnestly. "Call me," I laughed and I watched him still reading my small note in the headlights of my car as I drove off.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven – Port Angeles

The next day I was relieved to see that the sun was once again shining through my bedroom window. Two days of sunshine in a row. I thought that it might be some kind of record for Forks. I was feeling quite excited about the shopping trip that afternoon. I was looking forward to having some quality girl time and I really wanted to have a talk with Bella. It felt like I hadn't spoken to her in a long time. In my excitement for the day I decided to wear one of the dresses I had in the closet. I chose a dark blue one with a deep v-neck. I paired it with a light grey cardigan and I crossed my fingers that the weather wasn't going to turn half way through the day.

I became even more excited when mum gave me a nice bundle of cash to take shopping. It was enough to buy a dress for the dance plus a whole new wardrobe so I promised to bring her back change.

"No. Spend it one what ever you like. It's my treat." She insisted. I hesitantly put the money into my wallet but it felt conspicuous carrying around that much cash. Even in Forks I was asking to be mugged. I settled on stashing the cash securely in the glove box of my car where I tried to put it into the back of my mind. I wasn't much of a shopper. I found that I was too direct to enjoy shopping trips. I liked to go in, find what it was that I needed and get out as soon as possible. I decided that I would find a way to give some of it back to mum.

At school I saw Bella sitting on one of the rarely used benches talking to Mike. She had a slightly sour look on her face and her lips barely moved when she spoke. I decided to head over and see what was happening. It seemed like forever since I had spoken to her.

"Hi Bella," I said walking up and taking a seat on the slightly damp bench besides Bella. "Hi Mike," I greeted him as he looked at me and his eyes widened slightly.

"You look really nice today," Bella commented as she looked at my dress. I didn't know why but I put extra effort into getting dressed today. I even applied some mascara, something I never did due to the excessive attention it drew to my eyes. The person I was trying to impress didn't even go to this school. I felt myself blush. Mike was still looking at me and I felt uncomfortable under his gaze. Bella was looking from Mike to me with a look that clearly said now you know how I feel.

"So what did you two do yesterday?" I asked lightly. I turned away from Mike towards Bella.

"I just went for a walk in the forest and hung out around the house," she shrugged. "What about you?"

"I actually went down to La Push again. It was such a nice day I had to get out of the house."

Bella nodded enthusiastically. "Did you just go to First Beach?"

"Well that was where I was headed until my car broke down," I smiled. Bella's lips turned upwards in amusement.

"The beetle broke down?"

I launched into my story about my weekend as we walked to class. Mike was listening ever so carefully to my story. He laughed when Bella and I laughed and I could have sworn he frowned every time I mentioned Jacob. Each time I caught his eye he smiled widely. He had managed to take my good mood and turn it into something I felt uncomfortable about. I finally understood what Bella had been trying to tell me all these months.

In English Jessica was especially euphoric about the dance and she talked non-stop about it on the way to her next class. It was hard not to catch onto her enthusiasm about the dance, and even though I knew Bella hated dancing I wished that she would come along anyway. Personally I had no sense of rhythm but I was still going along.

At lunch I saw Bella glance hopefully over to the Cullen's usual table and frown deeply as it was empty. The table was crowded as we arrived and I felt instantly uncomfortable as everyone's eyes turned to us. Everyone looked back away soon enough except for Tyler who's mouth dropped open slightly and Lauren whose face turned into her usual scowl. I was tempted to tell her she could get her own ride to Port Angeles.

Bella and I sat on either side of Angela who greeted us both politely in turn. Angela reminded me of Bella in a way. She was quieter then the rest of us but so genuine in her kindness. She spoke with Bella for a while about our English essay while I continued on with my conversation with Jessica about dresses.

After Jessica turned her attention to Mike Angela whispered to me, "You look so pretty today."

"Thanks," I whispered back. The compliment from her made me feel lighter, as opposed to Mike's open staring. Unfortunately Jessica overheard this exchange.

"You do look great," she said loudly, so that every head turned to look at me. I felt my cheeks to scarlet and I looked at the desk. Mike and Tyler nodded enthusiastically. "I never noticed how big and blue your eyes are."

Lauren's face turned sour by the minute and I was relieved when the bell rang for class.

"Don't worry about them," said Angela as Bella and I trailed behind Lauren who was openly mocking me. "They're just jealous. Lauren really wanted to go to the Spring Fling with Tyler."

"It's not a problem," I told her, "She can go to the dance with Tyler if she wants. And from now on I'll just wear rags to school." I added on the end and Bella laughed and nodded.

"No," Angela protested. "I think you should doll yourself up everyday. I think that you really should go all out." She added in a tone that was too bitter for her sweet voice.

Bella and I both looked at her in mirrored looks of shock. "What?" Angela shrugged, quieter now. "She can't just dislike people because they're prettier than her. You both are really nice and she is so shallow."

The afternoon passed slowly for me. I was eager to get to Port Angeles and find a dress for the dance. I was suddenly filled with renewed inspiration to find the perfect dress.

Much to my disappointment Jessica called almost as soon as I got home to say that we would have to post-pone our plans until tomorrow because Mike had finally asked her out to dinner.

While mum and I were washing the dishes the phone rang.

"Hello," I answered. I was slightly puffed from running to answer the phone.

"Hi. Leighton?" Said a familiar husky voice.

"Jake?" I asked. "Gee it took you a long time to walk home if you only just made it." I scowled at the memory of staying awake until midnight waiting for him to call and say he had made it home safely.

"Sorry about that," he laughed, clearly amused at the thought that I was worried. "So I was wondering if you wanted to go see a movie with me on Saturday night in Port Angeles."

My heart fluttered for a moment. "Oh Jake. I'm so sorry I have this stupid dance on Saturday."

"A dance?" he asked, clearly disappointed.

"Yeah. A girl's choice spring fling"

"Who are you going with?" he was trying to keep his voice casual but I could hear the slightest hint of curiosity in his voice. I could visualise how his brows would be creased together in confusion.

I groaned. "Tyler Crowley. He wasn't actually my choice." I admitted. "I asked him as a favour to Bella. She was mobbed by offers."

"I thought it was girl's choice?" asked Jacob, sounding relieved.

"It was. That didn't stop anyone."

Jacob chuckled. It was throaty and rough. I liked the sound. My stomach felt like it was tying itself in knots. "So who would your choice have been?" he asked casually. I sucked in my breath. This wasn't normal. This was all just a dream. He was young. It is a dream. A thousand thoughts went through my head at once. But in the end just one stuck out in my head. It was Eleanor telling me to be here. I wanted to be here and Jacob was why. I didn't care if he was a dream and just over a year younger than me.

"Well if I had a choice it wouldn't have been anyone from Forks High that's for sure," I couldn't stop smiling. It was so wide that my cheeks were beginning to ache. And as our chatter turned to more casual topics I thought I could even hear Jacob's smile from the other end of the line. We organised to go to the movies on Friday night instead, a compromise that Jacob and I were both happy with. I agreed to pick him up after school and I promised to have a full tank of gas.

When I hung up the phone I ran into Mum hiding around the corner.

"Were you listening to my phone conversation?" I demanded.

"No," she defended weakly. "So you're going to the movies with Jacob on Friday."

"Mum!" I exclaimed. I was feeling indignant about my lack of privacy.

"What?" She asked, clearly not seeing the problem. "I think it's great. Jacob's nice. He's a bit young though. But good looking." She was weighing up the positives and negatives aloud.

"It's not like that, Mum." I told her. "We're just hanging out."

"We all know what that leads too!" she yelled up the stairs as I stormed past her to my bedroom.

My euphoria transferred back to Texas when I woke up to the usual sunshine. I greeted Eleanor brightly who raised an eyebrow at me but then launched into a long story about Michael. She had her first date with him last night and was ecstatic about it. She was considering asking him to be her boyfriend. I couldn't help but feel happy for her. I fluttered along in my own bubble all day. I never usually noticed much of what was going on around me but today I was especially distracted. I was trying to piece together the finer details of my outfit for the dance - something that was difficult considering I didn't actually have a dress yet. The end of the day couldn't come quick enough. It was a feeling that was becoming regular for me. I knew that it probably wasn't healthy; living mostly in a dream world. If I told anyone about it I would almost certainly be committed. But my biggest fear wasn't about being committed. It was that one night I wouldn't return to Forks.

The next day the shopping trip was still on and I became even more excited when Lauren had to cancel. Bella didn't seem disappointed either. After school I dropped Bella home and quickly went home to dump my school bag and carefully transferred the cash from my glove box into a purse. I then picked Bella up again from where she was waiting outside her house and went and did the same for Jessica and Angela. I drove quick enough that we were in Port Angeles by four and Bella glanced nervously at the speedometer. It was nice to spend some girl on girl time with the three girls that I really enjoyed being with. I didn't think that anyone besides Jess actually missed Lauren being there. Jess chatted animatedly about the boys we hung out with. Her dinner with Mike had gone well and she was hoping that by Saturday night they would have progressed to the first kiss stage. Angela was passively happy about going to the dance, but not really interested in Eric. Jessica tried to get her to confess who her type was but Bella saved her by interrupting with a question about dresses.

It didn't distract Jessica for long though, and she soon turned her attention on me.

"So what do you think of Tyler?" she asked.

"I'm not interested in him like that." I told her quickly, too quickly.

"Is there someone else?" Jessica's eyes widened in excitement and I kept my eyes firmly on the road.

"Not really," I tried to keep my voice casual. I didn't want to admit to myself that there was something going on between Jacob and me – let alone admit it to Jessica. "Maybe a boy from La Push." I said and I gave a pleading glace to Bella who saved me this time by once again changing the subject. I could tell that Jessica wasn't going to let it go. I could feel her glare on the back of my head.

Port Angeles was more beautiful then I had pictured. I slowed the car as we drove past the picturesque boardwalk as Bella and I stared. But soon Jessica was impatiently telling me to get a move along and she directed me to a big department store in town.

The dance was billed as semi-formal and each of us admitted that we weren't quite sure what that meant exactly. Jessica and Angela were shocked when Bella admitted that she had never been to a dance in Phoenix.

"Didn't you ever go with a boyfriend or something?" Jess asked dubiously as we walked through the front doors of the store.

"Really," Bella admitted as she blushed slightly. "I've never had a boyfriend or anything close. I didn't go out much."

"Why not?" demanded Jessica.

"No one asked me," shrugged Bella.

She looked sceptical. "People ask you out here," she reminded me, "and you tell them no."

I laughed at this which broke the mood slightly. We were in the juniors section now looking at dresses. We chatted lightly as we pawed through the clothes. The dress selection wasn't large but Angela and Jessica both found a few selections to try on. I didn't have as much luck. I knew that I had ruined my chances of finding something I liked by already having an image of the type of dress that I wanted to wear. Nothing seemed to be what I was looking for. Instead of trying anything on I helped Bella generously compliment the other two girls. In the end Jessica chose a knee-length electric blue dress with spaghetti straps and Angela chose a long pale purple dress that complimented her long figure nicely. I wasn't as worried about not finding a dress as Jessica was about it. As we looked through the jewellery department she tried convincing me to go back and look some more.

"No thanks," I told her lightly, and then distracted her by pointing out a necklace that would suit her dress. "I might take a day off school and drive to Seattle and if that fails I'm coming back here on Friday so I might be able to get something last minute then." I thought about dragging Jacob around to shop for dresses and I made a mental note that I had to find something before then.

I realised my mistake as soon as it came out of my mouth. "You're coming back here on Friday?" Jessica asked the curiosity was dripping from her voice. "Why?"

"I was going to see a movie," I shrugged. I hoped my indifference would tame her curiosity. It didn't.

"With the La Push boy?" she pried.

"Yes," I said quietly and she grinned triumphantly. She didn't mention it any more as she found a necklace and earrings that she liked but I knew that I hadn't heard the last of it.

We had planned to go to an Italian restaurant for dinner but we had finished our shopping sooner than we had thought. I convinced Jessica and Angela to take me on a tour of the bay while Bella declined and decided to go to a bookshop on her own. I for a moment I considered not letting her go – considering what I knew might happen to her – but in the end I reluctantly agreed to meet her at the restaurant and settled for crossing my fingers that Edward came through.

The bay was beautiful and I found myself staring off into the ocean. Jessica misinterpreted this gesture as being deep in thought.

"Are you thinking about your boyfriend?" Jessica asked a coy smile playing on her lips. I groaned inwardly.

"I don't have a boyfriend Jessica." I told her flatly. I didn't feel in the mood to play along with her. "He is just a friend who I am going to the movies with. Can you possibly comprehend that?"

She looked hurt and I apologised instantly though Angela was smiling next to her.

"No. It's ok." Said Jess. "You're just friends. I get it." She looked like she wanted to say more but instead she just stood in silence looking out over the water.

On the way to the restaurant a small boutique styled store caught my attention. The front window was filled with scarves and hippy-styled outfits but a dress behind the window caught my attention. I pointed it out to the girls and Angela agreed to come and look with me.

"Um. I don't know if you will find anything in there," Jessica said doubtfully but she followed us in anyway. The dress that caught my attention was a strapless pale pink number that had a large decorative flower on the left of the chest. It was short and not something that I would have been able to wear in Texas. I looked down at my more slender legs and shrugged. This was a dream body. A chuckled at my own joke and Jessica raised an eye brow at me. I decided to try it on and Jessica and Angela had to both hold the curtain of the small change room closed as I got dress. The dress was tight through-out the torso but the skirt came out like an umbrella. It was short; coming to well above my knee but there were no giggly bits hanging out in the mirror. I pulled the curtain open and watched the surprise on the girls' faces.

"Wow," Angela said. She smiled at me brightly.

"I'm not going anymore," Jessica said. Her mouth was still slightly open in shock.

I smiled to myself as I looked in the mirror. The colour brought out what little of a tan I had left and the small amount of cleavage I had created for myself in this dream was now squeezed upwards by the dress. The large flower seemed just right for a Spring Fling. It was perfect.

Jessica wasn't too impressed with having to walk back to the car again so I carried my new purchase to the restaurant where we were late. I knew that Bella wouldn't make it but Angela and Jessica both expressed their worry when Bella wasn't at the restaurant. We waited another fifteen minutes before I convinced them to order. I was getting hungry.

When we were leaving Angela was getting seriously worried. She began blubbering about calling the police and Charlie. She stopped when Bella called out our names from behind them. I chuckled at the looks on their faces when they saw she was with Edward. I then concentrated on thinking about the delicious meal I had just eaten.

"Where have you been?" Jessica's voice was suspicious.

"I got lost," Bella admitted sheepishly. "And then I ran into Edward." She gestured toward him.

"Would it be all right if I joined you?" he asked in his silken voice. I could see from Jessica and Angela's staggered expressions that he had probably never spoken to them before.

"Er… sure," Jessica breathed.

"Um, actually, Bella, we already ate while we were waiting — sorry," Angela confessed. I was now concentrating on my dress. I used up an enormous amount of my concentration thinking about the fine silk detail.

"That's fine — I'm not hungry." Bella shrugged.

"I think you should eat something." Edward's voice was low, but full of authority. He looked up at me and spoke slightly louder. I could tell that he was probably trying to pull my attention away from my dress. I couldn't imagine what he thought of me. Probably that I was a shallow glutton. "Do you mind if I drive Bella home tonight? That way you won't have to wait while she eats."

"Uh, no problem, I guess…" Jessica replied. She bit her lip, trying to figure out from Bella's expression whether that was what she wanted. Bella winked at her.

"Okay." Angela was quicker than Jessica. "See you tomorrow, Bella… Edward."

I waved at them merrily, finding unusual contentment in Bella's flushed cheeks. Jessica looked back and waved several times before we reached the car and when we were safely inside she exploded with excitement and curiosity. Angela and I listened to her dutifully the whole way home. I admit that I even pushed the accelerator to make the trip shorter.

After I had dropped the girls home I quickly jumped into the shower. I was not surprised that the phone was ringing when I got out. Bella had left her jacket in the back of my car.

I agreed to bring it to her tomorrow and I didn't make much of a fuss about her being with Edward. I knew that tomorrow Jessica would make enough fuss about it for the two of us.

I showed my dress to mum who reacted with the same enthusiasm that Jessica and Angela did. I tried not to feel disappointed that Jacob wouldn't be seeing me in it. I feel asleep instantly that night. I didn't even get a second to think about Jacob.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight - Cinderella

The next few days turned into a blur as the dance loomed closer and Friday night with Jacob even more so. I spend my afternoons with my Mum planning out the rest of my outfit for the dance. Since I didn't buy any shoes or accessories for the dance she came home late Wednesday night from Port Angeles with a bag of shoes and jewellery. She was more inspired by my dress then I was. I spent the evenings alternating between talking to Bella and Jacob on the phone. I finally got around to admitting to Bella that I was going to the movies with Jacob. I didn't know why I felt hesitant to tell her since technically she didn't love Jacob just yet. But the idea that she is suppose to love him and he her burned into my brain making me feel ill each time I thought about it. Bella had, of course, been thrilled that I was getting on with Jake. She asked if it was anything more than friendship but didn't pry when I told her it was too early to tell. She blushed deeply when I asked her about Edward and answered honestly, "I _really_ like him." I found myself feeling jealous of her ability to fall while I found myself clinging desperately to the edges; afraid.

When Friday came around I found myself looking constantly at my watch. So much so that even Angela, who was usually content not to pry, asked if I was alright. When I got home I knew that I only had limited time to get dressed but I still changed my outfit three times and spent too long in front of the mirror. I eventually decided on a small amount of make-up just mascara and a small amount of pink blush and I pulled my hair back into a lose ponytail. I was too nervous to do anything else with it. The cloud cover was once again covering the sky so I settled on a pair of dark blue skinny jeans and a black long sleeved skivvy.

"You look great. Have a nice time," Mum winked at me on my way out. It was half past three by the time I drove into Jacob's drive. He was sitting on the front steps waiting for me patiently. His face lit up when he saw me drive down towards the house. He was wearing jeans and a t-shirt that complimented his golden skin. His long hair was pulled back into a pony tail at the base of his neck.

"You're late," he told me as he got into the car and I felt myself blush deeply. I didn't know what to say. The air between us seemed to have changed. It was as if it was now filled with static electricity.

"Sorry," I apologised. "I got caught up at school." That was a lie but I decided that it was better than saying that I had spent half an hour getting ready. Even now it seemed ridiculous.

Jacob instantly launched into a story about school and because it had my mum mentioned in it several times I had to listen carefully. I found myself feeling disappointed that the trip to Port Angeles went so quickly as the quaint building came into view. Things were pleasantly comfortable with Jacob. It made me wonder why I was ever nervous about hanging out with him at all. And I was beginning to think I was mad for ever thinking that maybe this was something more than the other times we had spoken and hung out this week.

The movie we decided to see was a crime/action movie. I didn't think it was going to be that great but Jacob saw the car on the poster and was convinced it was going to be great. As we sat down in the cinema I suddenly became aware of my limbs. I moved my arms from the arm rest to my lap and back again. Jacob had claimed the arm rest on his side. The intangible electricity that had appeared in the car was once again between us. But I didn't know whether or not Jacob felt it too. Sometimes I got the feeling that he was looking over at me but every time I let myself peek at him he was watching the movie intently. I told myself several times that I was crazy. _You know his future,_ I told myself sternly and each time I did the image of him with Bella would burn into my brain and hurt me somewhere in the region of my stomach. _He will imprint on her daughter_. I was being particularly mean to myself now and I didn't even know why. I felt my eyes stinging.

After the movie I was quite while Jacob chatted about the movie none stop. Apparently the cars in it were fantastic but I didn't notice. I felt my ecstatic mood begin to peel away to make room for my ever-present bad mood. I didn't even know what was upsetting me. How did I expect tonight to go any differently to how it was going?

"I would kill for some ice-cream," Jacob told me as we walked past an ice-creamery. The way he said it – with a tone that implied so much hunger he really could kill for one – made me crack up and suddenly the clouds that were surrounding me seemed to vanish. I didn't know what I was worrying about. _Just be here_. I thought, mimicking the serene tone that Eleanor always used. My own mood swings were giving me whiplash.

I ordered a vanilla sundae and Jacob ordered a double chocolate sundae.

"Vanilla isn't even a flavour," he told me as he finished what I couldn't eat. He then wiped my cheek with a napkin where I apparently had some ice cream. The amount of tenderness he used even with his large clumsy hands surprised me.

"So do you want to hang out tomorrow?" he asked me, his dark eyes were twinkling.

"Didn't you have friends before I came along?" I grinned and he chuckled throatily.

"Are you sick of me?"

"No. Are you sick of me?"

"Not yet," he let his sentence hang in the air and I feigned hurt.

"I told you that I have that dance thing tomorrow."

"The one you don't want to go to?"  
"That's the one,"

"Does the dance go all day?" he asked, his brow creased like he was thinking but I could tell from his tone he was joking.

"No but I may spend a lot of the afternoon getting ready,"

"So I can help you get ready," he said eagerly and I burst into laughter.

"Do you have much experience in makeup application?" I asked him, raising an eyebrow. "Is there a confession you want to make Jacob?"

"Well I do have two older sisters who had to practice on someone," he joked. His grin was wider now though.

"So I'll come over to your house because I think that Billy is going to go and visit Charlie."

I nodded slowly, "Don't you want to visit Bella?" I asked as casually as I could.

"Bella?" Jacob looked surprised. "Not really. I saw her the other day."

I choked and then tried unsuccessfully at concealing as a couch. Jacob just looked confused.

"So I guess I will see you in the morning. But now I better get you home before your curfew." I laughed as he jumped up and followed me back to my car. He complained the whole way that even though he was younger than me he was more mature. This made me laugh. The chatter was lighter again and I found myself feel drowsy and content as I drove. I knew while it was happening that this wasn't a good feeling to be having while you were at the wheel of a car but I couldn't fight it off. It felt like every time I blinked my eyes opened just that little bit less. I could hear Jacob talking but I couldn't focus on anything he was saying. It was just warm, rough humming in my ears.

Suddenly I heard Jake yell in fright and the wheel was pulled hard to the left. I jolted back into full consciousness. I felt my ears burning with embarrassment.

"Leighton! Please pull over!" Jacob half yelled and half demanded. I sheepishly drove the car off the road. "Did you just fall asleep at the wheel?" he asked, his voice was shaking slightly.

"No," I told him. It was true. If I had fallen asleep I would have ended up back in Texas for a whole day. Jacob got out of the car, walked around to the driver's side and opened the door.

"Shove over," he told me, and I thought about complaining but instead I just moved over into the passenger seat.

"You don't have a permit," I argued from the passenger seat.

"I'd rather get fined then be in a crash," he told me and the words stung.

"Sorry," I mumbled but his smell was already filling up the cab and making me drowsy.

"Don't worry about it." He told me seriously. "You should have just told me you were tired and I would have driven. I told you it was a bad idea to keep you out past your bedtime." He chuckled.

"So I can either sleep at your house or you can sleep over mine," he told me casually and I was too tired to even ask him what he was talking about.

"Yours," I said groggily and he grinned. "I like Billy better," he laughed throatily.

The next morning when I woke up in Forks the bedroom was unfamiliar. But instead of being confused the forest smell gave it away. I was at Jacob's house. Apparently he was serious about his sleep over proposition. As if on cue Jacob walked into the room. He was wearing long sweat pants and a jumper.

"Morning," he told me smirking.

"You weren't joking about the sleep over," I commented as I rolled over and snuggled into the doona. I inhaled deeply; it smelled slightly like a campfire.

"Well I couldn't let you drive yourself home," he told me seriously. "So I called your mum last night and she called here this morning. She's expecting us back at any minute so you can start getting ready for this dance. So get out of bed." He prodded at my side playfully.

"Get ready for the dance?" I asked, "What time is it?"

"One o'clock," Jacobs shrugged. "I thought you were in a coma there for while. You must have been exhausted."

I gasped in shock. One o'clock? I had slept for most of the day. "I haven't had a good night's sleep in a while." I said sheepishly as I got out of bed. I didn't even want to look at my reflection. _I haven't slept in months_, I thought wryly.

"Let's get going before your mum gives me detention- again" joked Jacob as he headed towards my car. We passed Billy on the way out. He looked at me with a deep frown on his face. I wondered for a second what he was thinking until I realised that it was very probable that Sam he told the elders what I had said to him. I cursed myself for my rashness.

I smiled widely at Billy who didn't look up from his thoughts.

"I don't know what's with him," Jacob shrugged. "He's been like that since he got home last night."

"He got home after us?" I asked casually.

"Yeah he was at Harry Clearwater's house."

"Oh," I tried not to sound too interested. At my house my mum rushed into a panic. I moaned at her soccer mum syndrome while Jacob laughed at her putting my hair in rollers. I was glad that conversation seemed to flow easily between them, both of them picking on the other. It gave me another small relief that I didn't even know I was worried about.

After mum had wrapped my whole head tightly in rollers she fed Jake and I homemade pizzas for lunch, which Jacob gulped down appreciatively.

"That was great," he complimented my mum, who beamed. It wasn't often she got to entertain guests. She was so oddly happy today it was putting me on edge. But I tried not to think about it. Having Jacob around was a great stress reliever before my night as Tyler's _date_. I cringed at the word date. It made me feel ill.

"Is Bella going tonight?" mum asked as she washed the dishes. I reached for a tea towel but Jacob beat me to it. He grinned at me slyly as my mum looked at him in a mixture of shock and awe. I could see right through both of them. They were trying so hard to impress each other.

"No mum. She's not into dances."

"Oh. That's too bad. She would have looked beautiful all done up I'm sure." I found myself watching Jacob's face too closely to reply and mum seemed to sense something and backed off the Bella subject. I was starting to thank my lucky stars I created such an amazing mum. I had to admit she did a pretty good job at whatever mothering she needed to do.

Jacob and I hung out for a little while longer as I waited for my hair rollers to set. We watched some mindless Saturday television in the lounge room while Jacob blabbered constantly. I didn't know how he found so much to talk about.

Soon mum told me that it was time to do my hair. "In the bathroom," she told me pointedly as I put my head back to where she could play with it while I sat with Jacob. I looked at Jacob who was already not paying attention and instead watching _Monster Garage_ on the discovery channel. He was sprawled out across the couch with the remote in his hand, completely at home.

I went to follow mum at the stairs but as I passed the end of the couch I reached up and lightly ran my fingers through his hair. It was soft and silky. Jacob tilted his head back at smiled at me wildly. Upstairs mum when into overdrive and soon I felt like I was choking on hairspray and face powder. Though, I had to admit when I was looking at myself in the mirror after she was done, she had done a good job. My hair was pulled to one side of my head into a messy bun of curls and braids. My skin, which was usually splattered with a few freckles, was like porcelain with tiny puffs of red on the tops of my cheeks. My eyes were heavily bordered with thick black lashed. Mum helped me into my dress so that I didn't destroy my face.

"Tyler's here," I heard Jacob yell up the stairs and I giggled at the thought of them standing downstairs together. Tyler was probably wondering why Jacob was even here. I put on my shoes and grabbed the clutch mum handed me. She was beaming at her handy work.

"You look so beautiful," she gushed, her eyes looked wet.

"Oh mum, please." I begged. I had friends down stairs. The last thing that I needed was her to turn into a blubbering wreck. I quickly walked down the stairs. Jacob was sitting on the bottom of the stairs and Tyler was standing uncomfortably by the door. He was wearing a black button down shirt and long black pants. In his hand was a white rose. A felt a smile play on my lips. He really did go to a lot of effort. This wasn't even Prom.

Tyler saw me and his face went from the slight scorn he was looking at Jacob with into shock and then something close to elation. Jacob, noticing Tyler's change in expression turned and quickly stood up. His expression was something that I couldn't quite place and that made me stare at him. He smiled slowly as I reach the bottom stair. My high heels made me almost the same height as him and I savoured the moment for I knew I wouldn't be this close to his height for long.

"Wow," he said and for the first time ever I heard a slight waver in his voice.

"Do you like it?" I asked him, and I looked at Tyler as well, as I turned theatrically on the spot.

Tyler nodded enthusiastically, as if he hadn't found his voice yet, but my eyes kept roaming to Jacob who looked at me in awe. By this time my mum had followed me down the stairs. She looked from Jake to Tyler and smiled even more widely. I was glad to see she had at least got her emotions under control.

"Well, we better go," said Tyler, still looking at me wide eyed. I blushed slightly as I turned towards Jacob to say goodbye. I was surprised when he pulled me into a gentle hug. Butterflies erupted in my stomach. I could feel Tyler's glare on my back and when I looked at Jacob he was grinning at me smugly and then he glared back at Tyler. I shook my head at him, my look clearly saying that I didn't want to be a part of his games with Tyler. He shrugged slightly. For effect I reached forward and linked my arm around Tyler's. I let my hand rest softly on his forearm. I could feel Jacob's glare on my back. Tyler was grinning from ear to ear as we got in his car to go to the dance.

"Is he your boyfriend?" Tyler asked me as we got into the car. I laughed but even to me it sounded false. Was he my boyfriend? I didn't have much experience on these things but it felt to me like we were dancing on a knife's point. Both of us were waiting to see if the other would take the plunge.

"No. Jacob is just a friend." I told him and I tried to mask the slight disappointment I was feeling. I wished it was Jacob taking me to the dance.

"He's only, like, fifteen or something isn't he?" he didn't even try to keep the disapproval out of his voice.

"Is that a problem?" I asked him sharply.

"No to me," he shrugged, but he left the end of his sentence open. I suddenly didn't want to go to the dance anymore.

"What did you do today?" asked Tyler, trying his best to change the subject but I was still feeling bitter.

"I slept in at Jacob's and got home late so I really only got ready," I said, keeping my voice casual.

"You slept at his house?" Tyler asked I could feel him looking at me but I stared at the round. Now I was mad at Jacob for getting me to play along with his game. I sat fuming as we drove to Forks high.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine – Spring Fling

As soon as we arrived at the dance I felt my anger slowly evaporate. The dance was in the gym at the high school but someone had gone to a lot of trouble to decorate it so that it looked like a bouquet of flowers. At the front door Tyler and I were bombarded with flashes as numerous parents and teachers were designated as the cameramen for the night. I smiled dutifully for the camera but found myself looking around the room for Angela and Jess. I spotted Jess instantly – she was on the dance floor in her electric blue number dancing with her arms draped delicately around Mike. She was smiling at him widely and – I was pleased to see- Mike couldn't take his eyes off her. I spotted Angela and Eric at the table we had for the group. They were chatting to Lauren and Connor. Angela spotted Tyler and me and waved at us enthusiastically. I felt a bubble of excitement begin in my stomach. The music was good and I had good friends around me so there was really no reason why I couldn't have a good night. The best thing was that I didn't know anyone's future who was here. I was just like them. The thought made me feel more at ease. I walked over to the table and Tyler graciously supported me as I wobbled in the heels that were too high for me. He smiled proudly. Angela stood up when I made it to the table and hugged me warmly.

"You look so beautiful!" she said softly,

"You too!" I yelled so that she could hear me over the music. Lauren glared at me for a moment before resuming her conversation with Connor as if I hadn't arrived at all. I ignored her. I took a seat next to Angela and Tyler sat by my side. I wasn't sitting for long though as Mike and Jessica returned from the dancing and Jessica squealed and hugged me as well.

"You look hot," she told me, and it was a genuine compliment.

"You do!" I told squealed back. Her excitement was contagious. And then I added in a lower voice. "And Mike can't take his eyes off you." She smiled widely and went and took her seat next to Mike. I noticed both of there hands slip beneath the table. I was happy for them and I hoped Jessica that they progressed to the first kiss stage like Jess was hoping.

"Would you like to dance?" Tyler asked me and offered me his hand. He looked so happy that I couldn't deny him.

"Sure," I told him, "But I warn you I don't really know any dances."

Tyler laughed but led the way to the centre of the floor. I found that people were saying help to me more and more. Even people, who I didn't think that I had met before, like seniors. I smiled at everyone and waved at a few other people. Just as Tyler turned to face me the up-beat music turned to a slow ballad. I, along with a few other people, moaned. But Tyler smiled at his good-fortune. He reached out and placed his hand tentatively on my waist and drew me forward. I placed the hand that wasn't encased tightly in Tyler's on his shoulder where we swayed awkwardly for the duration of the song. It felt uncomfortable compared with the embrace I had shared with Jacob earlier that night. I stood on Tyler's toes numerous times but he didn't seem to mind. After a minute of awkward silence I finally spoke.

"We're good friends Tyler, aren't we?" I asked him, I fluttered my eye lashes slightly for effect.

"Um. Yeah. Of course." Said Tyler quickly, he was trying to sound more comfortable than he was.

"Then can you do me a favour?" I asked shyly.

"Anything," he promised.

"Dance with Lauren after this," I told him, smiling and fluttering the eye lashed some more. Tyler looked shocked at my request. I spoke quickly. "She has been mad with me ever since I asked you to this dance because she really likes you," I told him and he looked over at Lauren – who would have looked quite pretty if not for her sour expression – and looked deep in thought. For the remainder of the song I caught him sneaking looks at her from over my shoulder. When the song finished I whispered to him, "Don't tell her I said anything." As he headed over to where Lauren was sitting.

Next I danced with Angela and Jessica and then with Mike, Eric and Connor. Lauren spent the rest of the night dancing with Tyler and she didn't look nearly as unhappy. By the time the last song was over my feet were aching and I was exhausted even though I had only woken up less than twelve hours ago. Tyler dutifully dropped me at my front door.

"Thanks for a great night," he told me with a grin and I knew he wasn't actually talking about the time he spent with me.

"Thank you!" I told him honestly, after the rough start I had a great night.

All of the lights were out except for the porch light. I fumbled for my keys but I tried to be quite as I walked inside. I walked into the lounge room as I heard loud and unfamiliar snoring.

"Jacob?" I asked, poking the large mass that was hidden under a blanket on the lounge.

"You were there when I left," I joked as he groggily opened one eye to look at me.

"What are you doing here?" he asked thickly and I smiled.

"I live here. What are you doing here?"

He chuckled. "I mean what are you doing home already?"

"The dance is finished. It's nearly midnight." I whispered to him. I sat down on the floor so that my back lent against the lounge.

"Did you have a good time?" he asked, and I could feel his breath on the back of my neck. It made goose bumps appear on my skin.

"Yeah. It was good fun. I wish you could have come."

"Me too honey." He said and I heard his breathing deepen.

"Hey," I turned around and poked him. Without opening his eyes he grabbed my hand. "You didn't tell me why you're sleeping on my lounge."

"Because you don't have a spare bed and you're mum wouldn't let me sleep in your bed." He smiled. I ran my fingers over his face, across his nose and over his lips. It was soft and warm. I liked that it felt human. I suddenly felt sadness when I realised that he wasn't. Not because he would one day be a werewolf but because he was a dream. It was worse than him not being human; he wasn't real at all. I sighed deeply but as I went to pull my hand away he reached his up and held my hand against his face.

"I'll see you in the morning Jake," I told him and I reluctantly pulled my hand away. It was burning where his skin touched mine. By the time I reached the stairs he was already snoring. Upstairs I saw that the light in Mum's room was still on. I crept up quietly just in case she had fallen asleep with it on. Mum was sitting up on her bed reading a book. She smiled at me as I opened the door and she patted the empty bed beside her. I glanced at a photo on her bedside table. It was of my dad. My dad from the real world. He looked exactly as I remembered him; he had sandy blonde hair and blue eyes. I guessed that some things you take with you wherever you go. I crawled into the bed beside Mum and pulled the blankets over my legs. I leant my head on her shoulder and she rubbed my cheek with her smooth hands.

"Did you have a good night?" she asked and I nodded. I was tired.

"Why did you make Jacob sleep on the couch?" I asked her curiously. "I could have just slept in your bed."

"Did you hear him down there?" Mum asked amazed. "That kid snores like a steam engine."

I laughed and we both listened for a moment as Jake's rumbles came up the stairs.

"I think he really adores you," she told me quietly and I closed my eyes. "I'm not quite sure I understand it really. It's a young sort of adoration. I don't know what it means."

"Me either," I whispered as mum threw me an old t-shirt and I groggily pulled off my dress and pulled the shirt on. I listened to Jacob's snoring and it sent me to sleep like a lullaby. I knew I had to talk to Eleanor as soon as I woke up in Texas.

"So you and Jacob are an item now?" Eleanor asked as I explained everything that had happened in the last few days.

"No." I told her. "No." I repeated it more forcefully. I didn't know who I was trying to convince her or myself.

"Ah huh," said Eleanor dubiously and I threw my head back onto my pillow in frustration. I didn't know what to do. I liked to have rules. Where there wasn't already ruled in place I liked to just create them. For example I can't date the same person twice. If it didn't work out the first time it's not going to work out the second time. Or don't kiss on the first date. I would use that one if I ever got asked on any dates. I didn't know if any rules applied to Jacob and me. I certainly didn't have any already made rules that I could use just in case I began to like a fictional character who I dreamed about.

I was stressed so much my hair was becoming frizzy – something that never happened.

"I want someone real," I told Eleanor and I think that she would have laughed if it wasn't for that fact that I was close to a mental breakdown. "I want someone who I can grow old with. I want someone who I can bring home to meet my family."

"I've already met Jacob," Eleanor said helpfully, but even she knew she was out of her depth here. She could argue with me all she wanted for me to just enjoy my Twilight universe but she couldn't argue with me when I told her I wanted something real. It simply wasn't real.

"And what happens if I meet the guy of my dreams here in Texas? How do I tell him that I am actually seeing a fictional character in my dreams?" Eleanor listened to my rant carefully taking in each of my concerns. "And what if I never meet anyone real? And I just spend my whole life hanging onto something that doesn't even exist?" I started to feel my eyes getting wet though I wasn't aware I was feeling sad.

"I don't know," answered Eleanor and she sat besides me silently. Both of us were too deep in thought to speak.

The next morning I woke Jacob up early. He complained dramatically that he let me sleep in but he stopped complaining when I fried him bacon and eggs for breakfast. I drove him back out to his house soon after breakfast. I used the excuse that I had lots of homework to do to give me some much needed thinking time. It was lame but Jacob seemed to buy it though he let me leave his house reluctantly. I decided to drive to first beach in the hopes that the salt air would leave me with some sort of definitive answer to what I was doing here. In the end that was what it all came back too. Maybe I could live with being here if I thought there was some sort of purpose. I didn't want the only thing for me to do here was to like Jacob more and more until eventually one night I just didn't come back here. It was bound to happen and after that happened what was I meant to do? I shook my head and sat on a driftwood log. I kept going around in circles and never getting closer to anything that made sense. I needed to tell someone here what I knew. This was becoming clearer to me every time I came back here. This was too big for me to carry around on my own. It was too much. I needed a second opinion. I tried to think of someone I could tell but every one I thought of had too many implications. I could tell Edward but he would do everything he could to protect Bella and that would drastically alter the future. I had to keep my eye on the goal. I wanted Bella to have her happily ever after.

I could tell Sam but eventually that would mean that the whole pack would know and I was sure that Jacob was the last person that I wanted to know. I could tell Billy or the Elders but I wasn't too sure about what I could tell them besides the fact that I know everything. I felt like telling Billy would only be an option if I just wanted someone to know. I could tell Carlisle but I doubted that he would keep this from his family. I could maybe tell him after this year, since I was sure that the crucial things would be set in motion by then. This idea started to sound more tantalising to me. If I told Carlisle after everything had already started to happen all I could do would be to help them along. Maybe I could give them all a few pointers about how to get through something I already know they all get through. I decided on this plan. The only part I felt uncertain on was what would happen in September. Do I let Edward leave Bella or do I convince him to stay. This was about Jacob, of course. If Edward leaves then Bella falls in love with Jacob and Jake would fall in love with her. The idea sent a shiver down my spine and my head started to ache.

_That is in September_, I thought, _It's a while away._ And it felt like I already knew the decision I wanted to make. I realised that I knew all along what I wanted. I just had to make sense of it.

I went home and settled into bed. I tried to give Bella a call but Charlie answered and said gruffly that she had gone to the Cullen's house. I chatted for a bit with Charlie but ended up going to bed early. I knew that Bella was about to have a crazy few days and that meant that I was one step closer to being able to tell my secret. Even though the thought brought me instant relief I found myself crossing my fingers under my pillow for her.

It would be happening right now. At this exact moment Bella would be at her house, only a block away, tell Charlie she was leaving her. I winced at the thought of Charlie. Maybe I should go and console him. I tried to keep my eyes from closing so that I could think some more. Maybe I could go and cook him dinner tomorrow night. He probably wouldn't want to eat. I was running through recipes when I fell asleep.

Back in the real world it was a work day. I counted them as slightly better than weekends due to the fact that I had something to do and therefore time went slightly faster. It was a backwards world. What sort of person spent their days waiting for when they could go to sleep?

I was walking to work in a daze. This wasn't unusual for me, even before I started dreaming twilight I would walk around in semi-consciousness. At least now I was thinking about something as opposed to just having a blank mind. I always knew that I should pay more attention when I walked. Especially when I would suddenly be home and I didn't remember anything about the walk, but as I got more and more stressed I used every moment away from my dream to think carefully about what I was doing when I was there.

I knew that I should have looked before I stepped out onto the road, but I was thinking about Jacob and so I only knew I was on the road when I felt the texture under my feel change from grass to bitumen. The car hit me at full speed. I had probably stepped out right in front of it.

The force of the impact knocked the air out of my chest and my whole body suddenly felt like it was on fire. As I slid across the bonnet of the car towards the windscreen I locked eyes with the girl who was driving. She was young – she probably only just got her permit – and her eyes were so full of fear I wanted to reach out and touch her. I wanted to tell her it was alright, this was completely and totally my fault. I wanted to tell her not to be afraid. But I couldn't even scream. I was moving so quickly I couldn't stop myself from slamming into the windscreen with startling force. My head hit the glass and I felt it smash beneath my body and then as quickly as it had came I suddenly didn't feel anything.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten – The Chase

My eyes flew open and it took me a moment to figure out that I was back in Forks. I tried to get my breathing under control but I was hyperventilating. I couldn't think. All I could see was that poor girls face as she hit me. The pain was still burning in my mind but it was only a memory – I wasn't in any pain.

_Am I dead?_ I thought and I ran my hands along the length of my body. It felt that same as always. It felt real. _I wouldn't be here if I was dead, _I tried to tell myself but I couldn't stop the nausea from rising in my stomach. I only just made it to my toilet before I was sick.

"Please don't let me be dead," I said aloud. I didn't know who I was asking. I wasn't religious or spiritual. I like to think that humans were all biology and chemistry. "I want to see Eleanor again." I felt my voice crack as the shock of what had happened to me sunk in. "Please," I was begging now. I was begging my empty bathroom. "Don't let that girl have to carry around the fact that she killed me. She doesn't deserve that. It was my fault. I promise to always look before I cross the road from now on."

I took a deep breath. There wasn't anything I could do for now. I would just have to wait until I went to sleep. I quickly got changed, not even bothering to look at what I was wearing, and I went downstairs to the kitchen.

"Wow," mum said to me as I sat down across from her at the table. "You don't look like you slept that great."

"I didn't," I mumbled at her.

I drive to school in a daze. I wasn't too worried about being in an accident. I was already, at the worst, dead and, at the least, in serious pain. As I parked in the car park it was nearly empty.

Something caught my eye out of the emptiness and I felt my stomach turn over. A flash of wild red hair as it passed through the office doors.

"No, no, no." I groaned and I ran towards the office. I wasn't sure about what made me suddenly want to stop Bella getting beat up. Maybe it was the fact that I was unconscious somewhere seriously injured. I knew that James wanted her and he would die. Everything was already set into motion. There was no reason why I couldn't make it a little harder for him. Maybe even save Bella a little bit of pain.

"Help!" I screamed as I pushed my way through the office door. I wasn't sure why I blurted out 'help'. Maybe something along the lines of 'stop you're putting Bella in terrible danger' would have been more appropriate but the office lady – someone new – and Victoria both turned around to look at me. Victoria's black eyes narrowed and I felt my breath stop as I looked at her. She was wild and she was bent over the receptionist like a cat about to pounce. The receptionist looked almost relieved for an excuse to move away from Victoria's intimidating glance and she hurried to my side. I must have looked like somebody in need of help. She tried to make me sit down on one of the available seats but I was rooted to the spot. Victoria's gaze was rendering me immobile. She was more beautiful and terrifying then I had imagined.

"What's wrong?" asked the receptionist, glancing sideways at Victoria.

"Vampire," I whispered under my breath so quietly that the receptionist couldn't hear me but Victoria's head snapped upwards and a small smile pulled across her gleaming lips. She inhaled and I knew that she was remembering my scent. In an instant she stalked out of the room impossibly fast. The receptionist exhaled audibly and looked relieved.

"Tell me what's wrong dear," she said again while she looked at me with concern. "Do you feel sick?"

"No false alarm," I told her quickly and I loosened her grip on my arm so I could leave.

"Are you sure?" she asked dubiously, "You're quite pale."

"I'm sure." I tried my best to make my voice sound confident but it still sounded weak and shaky. I hurried out of the office before she could stop me with more questions. The school was now buzzing with students going to their first class. I stood helplessly outside the office and it was as if I was torn between two lives. I could go to my class and join in with my friends and their mindless gossip about the dance on the weekend and I could put Bella out of my mind. I didn't know what was going to happen to her now that I had stopped Victoria from being able to tell James that Bella lived in Phoenix. Short of me guarding the office all day I doubted I could stop her from obtaining that information some how. But there was something else niggling in the back of my mind. It was the look Victoria had given me as she left the office. When I had regained enough composure to be able to process thought I noticed the look she gave me as she stormed from the office. It was a mixture of curiosity and anger. It was anger so intense that it made my blood run cold and my stomach curl.

I decided that I couldn't stay at school. I could no longer live inside this world and yet pretend that it didn't exist. I ran to my car, all the while I scanned the surrounding trees looking for any hit of bright red. I knew it was useless, if she was watching me I wouldn't be able to see her with my mere human eyes.

I shivered as I drove out of Forks towards the reservation. I couldn't go to the Cullen's, they were busy enough as it was, and I didn't know where to find them anyway. I had to find somewhere safe to sit this out and with Sam protecting the reservation it was as safe a place as anywhere.

I drove the whole way on edge. I jumped at every small animal that moved in the forest and I was sure that my fear was making me hallucinate. I didn't know where exactly the treaty line was but as I started to see the first houses on the outskirts of La Push I began to breathe easier. I thought about possibly going to the beach and just waiting for Jacob to finish school. We could wait it out together – even though he wouldn't know what we were doing – but I quickly decided against having he anywhere near me when he was just as vulnerable as me. Maybe he was even more vulnerable. I didn't know if I could die here, I could bleed and feel pain but I didn't have a theory when it came to death. If I could die here the worst that would happen would be that I don't come here every night when I fall to sleep. But Jacob if he died here it would be final, I shivered at the thought, and I would have to return here every night without him. That thought finalized it in my mind. I would find a way to pass a message onto Sam, to warn him that there is a threat and then I would wait it out on the beach away from Jacob. While I was thinking about a way to pass a message onto Sam I found that I was parked in the Black's drive. I had driven there while I wasn't paying attention to where I was going.

The lounge room curtains fluttered and caught my eye. I saw Billy glance out of them. I sighed; _there goes the idea of sneaking away_. But almost simultaneously I figured it out. What would be the best way to get in contact with Sam? The tribe elders would know what I was talking about within reason – maybe I would have to explain some things to Billy later but I wouldn't be letting anyone knew in on the secret. The Cullen's didn't know about the werewolves and they wouldn't find out. Billy wouldn't ask many questions about the future of the Cullen's if carefully chose what to tell him.

I even managed to smile at myself as I walked to their front door. I knocked rapidly and - obviously expecting me – Billy opened the door.

"Hi Billy," said politely, "I'm sorry to bother you but –"

"Jacob is still at school," Billy interrupted me. He looked distracted and he kept glancing at the phone as if he was expecting a call.

"Actually I came to see you," I said and Billy's eyebrows rose in surprise.

"I don't mean to be rude Leighton but I'm actually a bit busy at the moment." He glanced at the phone again.

"This is important," I told him and I took a deep breath. I let the oxygen inflate every space inside my lungs. "I have a secret and I know that you will respect that I can't tell you everything but I think you need to get a message to Sam Uley."

Billy's face turned from surprise to confusion and then to suspicion.

"Maybe you should come inside."

I followed Billy inside and when he parked his wheelchair at the kitchen table I took a seat opposite him. I didn't know what I was going to tell him. I didn't know what it would do or who would get hurt from it. Over the months these people had become so much more to me than characters from a story I liked. They had morphed into my life and eventually moulded it; changed it. I cared about what happened to them. I wanted them all to have a happily ever after.

"You need to warn Sam that there is danger for the tribe," I told him and I looked at him intensely – I was hoping that maybe I could communicate more through body language than words.

"We already know." Billy replied quickly and curtly. He was hurting by this. I could tell by the creases of worry on his regal face. He was the chief and only one son had phased so far. The whole tribe was in danger.

"Well you need Sam to pull in the perimeter. Possibly just run a small patrol around the town if he can. I don't think there's a threat for the people in Forks – some of the Cullen's are still there protecting them." I was rambling now. The thoughts were tumbling out of my head and I was more talking as a way to sort through them then to tell Billy.

"Protecting them!" Billy slammed his fists down on the table and the sudden movement made me jump. His face turned red with anger. "Sam is already trying to track them down. We're hoping that we can find Bella and bring her back to Charlie before it's too late but she's been gone almost 24 hours. It might already be too late."

I felt my mouth slip open as I realised what Billy was talking about. Charlie had called him to say that Bella had left and Billy assumed it was to – I gasped.

"No! You've got it wrong. Bella's not in danger from the Cullens! It's another one. They've taken her away to hide her."

"Another one?" Billy asked, raising his eyebrow. "What do you mean another one?" But I was finally processing what Billy had said to me. _Sam is already trying to track them down. _Sam wasn't in La Push. He was out trying to find the Cullens. He didn't know there were other vampires here. He could be half way to Phoenix by now. He wasn't in La Push.

Outside the house I heard the quiet, yet distinctive sound of a tree snapping. I felt winded.

"Billy there is other Vampires that are in the area. Not ones like the Cullens – real ones." I spoke in a hushed frantic voice as I tried to get my message across to Billy before Victoria could hear us. "I'll explain later but Bella's left as a precaution. She's alright no treaty is broken. You need to get Sam back to La Push. Now."

I stood up and began to walk towards the door. I wasn't going to be the reason Jake became an orphan. If Victoria wanted me I wasn't going to let her kill anyone to get me.

"Where are you going?" he asked. Clearly he wasn't finished yet.

"I'm just going down to the beach to wait for Jake to finish school." I told him, doing my best to keep my voice even. I knew that she would have to be close enough to hear now so I couldn't warn Billy. Instead I looked at him. I wasn't sure what my expression was telling him – as I wasn't even sure what I was feeling – but Billy seemed to understand. He nodded at me once and I turned and left without looking back.

Once I got outside I let the fear consume me. My eyes frantically searched the surrounding forest. There was no sign of Victoria but I could feel that she was there. I rushed to my beetle and started her up. I locked the doors for good measure but I knew it wouldn't be much of a hindrance.

I drove the short distance to first beach. My hands shook uncontrollably causing me to drive the majority of the way swerving onto the wrong side of the road. I was relieved that First beach was deserted. I contemplated staying in my car but my nerves got the better of me. I needed to be somewhere that I could see all around me. I got out of the car and went and sat on a piece of washed up driftwood near the shore. It wasn't ideal but at least it gave me a clear view of the forest. I was quite sure that she wasn't going to come at me from the ocean.

After a few moments with no sign of any life I began to doubt myself. Maybe I had it wrong. Victoria could have just as easily gone back to the office and got Bella's address. James could be in the ballet studio with Bella right now. Maybe I had misjudged the power of the storyline. Maybe everything was pulled in the right direction despite the fact that I was here to mess everything up. Just as I had almost convinced myself that it was safe to go back to Billy's – Jacob would almost be home – a flash of brilliant red caught my eye from between the trees. But my panic from earlier didn't return. Instead I felt resigned. This was the end of my stay in Forks. I looked around at the surrounding beach and forest, beautiful and green. I deeply inhaled the smell of the salt and the sand, as if maybe it could become imprinted on in my memory. I thought about Bella and I crossed my fingers behind my back that she was ok. I wished that I had said a proper goodbye to my mum this morning. Maybe kissed her cheek or heard her musical laughter.

As Victoria emerged from the trees, wild and cat-like, I sat on my log unmoving – or unable to move. Her eyes locked on me and she slowly prowled towards me. A small smiled pulled tight across her fangs.

My mind thought of Jacob. _Jacob._ I hoped that he was alright. That he was always alright. I hoped that somehow this world continued even though I wasn't in it so that he could find someone to be happy with before he imprints.

Victoria was only a few metres away from me now. Her bare feet left prints from the forest. Her black eyes never looked away from me. I crossed my other fingers and sat on them tightly. _Please don't let this hurt. _I thought desperately. I wasn't brave. Victoria stopped in front of me and I could hear a small growl coming from her throat. I stopped breathing.

"I've been looking for you," she purred.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven – Awakening

Victoria stood in front of me like a marble statue. Her red hair blew behind her in the slight sea breeze and her eyes never moved from mine. I tried to talk past the lump in my throat.

"Really? Why?" I managed to choke out. I was trying to play dumb. I decided in an instant that it was the better than my other option which was trying to run. "Wait. Are you that lady from the office?" I kept my voice vague and I thought my impression would be rather funny in any other circumstances. Unfortunately my heart beat gave me up. Confusion crossed her face for only an instant before it was replaced by a knowing smile; knowing and terrifying. She chuckled.

"Would you happen to know that strange family of vampires that live near here?"

I kept my face vague. My act was rapidly deteriorating but it was the only thing I had. I didn't know what she wanted from me. "Did you just say Vampires?"

The patience that Victoria seemed to be keeping with me broke. She was standing in front of me and then I blinked and she was next to me. She pulled me roughly to my feet. She wasn't being gentle but I knew that she wanted something from me. That was the only reason I could think of for why she hadn't snapped me in half and drank my blood yet. I cringed away from her cold touch but I couldn't move anywhere. My heart beat slowed and my breath came to me easily. This was it. She was holding out my arm in front of my body. One of her stone hands gripped my elbow and the other my wrist. Her black eyes began to look frantic.

"My mate and I are playing a little game with these vampires," she was smiling at me hungrily. Her black eyes trailed down my arm to my hand. She lifted one cold hair and wrapped it like a vice around my pinkie finger. I sucked my breath in. What was she doing? She pulled at my finder enough to make me feel uncomfortable – but no real pain. She was torturing me. She was so strong she could have ripped my finger off completely. Instead she was pulling at me weakly; hinting to me what she was capable of.

"You're mate is James right?" I decided to try a different tactic. Was it possible that I could frighten her? Or even just confuse her?

Intense pain shot from my finger and the outside of vision went fuzzy. Victoria had dislocated my finger in her surprise. Now her cold eyes were narrowed with suspicion. I cried out but the only sound around me was my own voice echoing off the cliffs.

"How do you know that?" she hissed.

"Some people just have special abilities. Take you for example. You have a special knack for escape, don't you _Victoria." _I said through gritted teeth but I held her gaze. I had a low pain threshold so I doubted that anything else she could do to me would surpass what I was feeling now. She wrapped her long, cold fingers around my ring finger and I heard the sickening crack of the bone being ripped from the socket. This time I tried to suppress the cry that ripped from my lungs. My face was wet with hot, salty tears. I couldn't look at my hand.

"Tell me about these Vampires. Who is the girl?"

"They won't stop," I told her. But my voice sounded rough and weak. I wanted this to be over. I didn't even care how it ended anymore. "The Cullens. They won't stop protecting her until James is dead. Edward kills him tonight. He could probably even use your special ability right about now."

A vicious snarl ripped from Victoria's throat. Thankfully she let go of my arm. I glanced down at my hand and felt nauseous. My two fingers were poking out at right angles to my hand. Victoria was looking from me to the forest, as if she was actually considering what I was telling her. I felt a bubble of hope in my chest. It was too good to be true.

It was. Out of the side of the forest I could see the silhouette of a huge black wolf emerging. I sighed audibly. Maybe Victoria wasn't leaving but at least Sam was here.

Victoria turned towards Sam and bent into a crouch. I heard a snarl come from across the beach. The pain in my fingers was now only a throb but the nausea I was feeling was rising and the edge of my vision was spinning. _Hold on_, I told myself. _Just hold on._

I sat down on the sand to steady my shaking body. Victoria and Sam were now circling each other but as soon as they had rotated so that Sam was in front of me he stoped and crouched. He was protecting me. Suddenly I wanted Sam to leave. I didn't want him to fight Victoria. She was lethal. He wouldn't make it out alive.

"Sam!" I tried to call out but my voice was raspy. He didn't even look in my direction. Victoria was creeping towards him now. Her lips were pulled tight to expose her razor sharp teeth. It was cat verse dog.

Sam lunged first but Victoria weaved away from his strike easily. She was twirling so quickly that all I could see were glimpses of her red hair. They were a blur. I could no longer tell who was who or who had the upper hand. I couldn't move my body to get a better position as pain shot through my arm like fire. It was as if someone was burning my skin with a hot iron.

Suddenly, though I only looked away for a moment, Sam was flung across the sand as Victoria landed a kick in his chest. He yelped weakly then lay lifeless. I choked as a fresh round of hot tears ran down my cheeks. What had I done? If Sam was killed what did that mean for the pack? I had altered the future irreversibly.

Victoria turned to me triumphantly and bile rose in my throat. I looked down at my deformed fingers.

"Please," I begged. I didn't have anything left. She smiled at me menacingly. I noticed the black wolf shift slightly but my expression never faulted. Even my heart remained steady. "Just kill me already," I was surprised at how genuine my plea was.

"Kill you? No. I think first you will tell me everything you know about the Cullens."

"It doesn't matter!" I told her. "They've already killed James. Nothing I can tell you will help him!"

"No!" Victoria screamed, enraged. She pulled back her hand and I closed my eyes to wait for the stone hand to strike but it never fell. Instead Victoria's shriek filled my ears. I didn't open my eyes. The darkness was comforting. It was like an old friend.

"Leighton?" I heard a vaguely familiar voice whisper my name. Who was that? Was it my doctor?

My eyes fluttered open and I became aware of a continuous beeping. It was synchronised with my heart beat. I looked to my left and right as my surroundings came into focus. Next to me was a series of medical devices attached to tubes that went into my arm. I became aware of a mask on my face. I reached up to pull it away but a soft hand stopped me.

"No Leighton you should leave that on," the voice told me. I focused on the man. He was an elderly gentleman with kind blue eyes and saggy cheeks.

"Doctor Stevens?" I asked. My voice was croaky and my throat hurt. "What are you doing here?"

"I work here Leighton."

"In Forks?"

The old man chuckled softly. "No. In Hudson."

I began to understand though thinking felt like walking through a thick fog. I was home.

"I was hit by a car," I told him and on recognition of the fact I felt a dull pain in my leg.

"Yes," he told me. "Do you remember it?"

"Yes," I told him as the image of the girl's face burned in my memory. "I remember. I'm not dead?"

It was a stupid question. Obviously I wasn't dead. But strange things had been happening to me lately.

"No. You're going to be fine. You were lucky actually – considering the speed you were hit at. Your femur was broken in half but you've had surgery. You'll be in hospital a while longer but we expect you to make a full recovery."

"My mum? Eleanor?"

The doctor smiled at me gently. "They are at home resting. They've barely left your bedside. I sent them home because I wasn't expecting you to wake up any time soon."

"I have strange sleeping patterns," I told him, but I already felt the drugs taking control of me. I felt my eyes slipping.

"I'll tell them you woke up but you'll be heavily medicated for the next few weeks. You'd be in excruciating pain otherwise."

At his words I felt a sharp pain in my fingers. It was so painful that the backs of my eye lids turned white. I tried to yell but nothing came out.

"Leighton!" I heard a voice yell and I knew that I was no longer in my hospital bed. I could feel the salt breeze on my face.

I opened my eyes and wished I had some of the drug relief now. I was still sitting against the piece of driftwood and cool drops of rain began to fall on my face. Sam was looking at my seriously.

"Are you ok? Are you hurt?" he asked me in his deep voice. I could feel his body heat radiating around me and keeping me from shivering. I looked down at my broken hand and Sam's eyes followed my gaze. I saw him cringe.

"I'll take you back to Billy's house and we'll get you to the hospital." He tried to get me to stand up but the sudden movement cause another wave of pain that made me gasp and nearly lose consciousness again. "This is going to hurt," he told me and then he picked me up easily as I didn't even try to mask my scream.

Suddenly I realised fully where I was. Why my hand was hurting.

"Where's Victoria?" I asked him frantically. I tried to wriggle but his strong arms held me still.

"If you move you will make it worse," he told me. He was looking straight ahead. He wouldn't look down at me.

"Did you burn the pieces?" I asked him, my voice sounded odd. It was too high pitched.

"She got away," he told me and I saw a muscle in his jaw flex. "I got a hold of her arm and she fled into the woods. I couldn't find her trail again."  
"Can you do me a favour Sam?" I asked quietly. I knew I wasn't in any position to be bargaining favours with him. I had done nothing to ever help him and all he had ever done was protect me. As if he heard my thoughts he looked down at me with an expression mixed with anger and frustration. "I know things." I explained to him quietly. "Things I shouldn't know. I need you to understand that there are some things I can't explain fully but it's of high importance that you keep what I know from Jacob."

"I won't tell him a thing," Sam said, returning his hard gaze straight ahead.

"Not just now," I continued. "When he phases. You need to hide it from your thoughts."

"If he phases I won't keep anything important to the tribe's safety from my brothers."

"He will phase," I said more urgently. "And you need to keep it from him. For everyone's safety"

I wasn't quite sure about if it was for everyone's safety but it seemed to get the message across to Sam. He simply nodded once.

"I fell at rock pools and you found me," I told him quickly as Jacob's house came into view and I saw Billy looking through the lounge room window. His face looked visibly relieved at the sight of Sam but he paled slightly as he saw me limp in his arms.

Jacob was out the door before Billy.

"Leighton?" he asked worriedly as he raced towards Sam. "What happened?"

"I fell at the rock pools," I told him and I winced as Sam re adjusted my weight. "And I think I dislocated a couple of fingers."

I looked down at my fingers as Jacob did. I heard him gasp.

"That's disgusting!" he said faintly and I couldn't help but smile despite the fuzziness that was returning.

Billy was outside in an instant.

"Everyone alright?" he asked and looked intently at Sam.

"She's hurt but I don't think we're in any danger," Billy nodded and relief washed over his regal face. Jacob was blissfully unaware of the hidden meaning behind the conversation.

"Charlie called before to say that Bella came home safely," he told me casually and I felt a weight lift from me.

"That's great," I told him and then I said to Sam, "You could probably put me in the car. I need to go to hospital."

Jacob agreed and rushed to open the truck door for Sam. I was glad when he clamoured into the passenger side before me and tentatively put his arm around me when Sam lifted me inside. I clenched my jaw together and didn't make a sound in an attempt to be tough but I think Jacob saw through it and he gently stroked my face as Sam drove to the hospital in Forks. I could feel his warm breath on my face.

"Jake," I whispered as I felt unconsciousness fight for me again.

"Mmm." he moaned groggily. I peaked at him and he had his eyes closed too.

"How was school?"

"It would be better if you went there," he told me and the thought that maybe our friendship was leading in the same direction was encouraging. Maybe I could stop his heart from being broken – or at least I could give Bella some competition. In the end she didn't choose Jacob anyway. She was made for Edward. Why couldn't Jacob be happy? I was sure that Stephanie Meyer wouldn't hate me for changing that part of her story.

I could no longer fight off the rising darkness and I woke for a moment in Hudson to find my mum and Ellie hovering over me distraught.

"It looks worse than it is," I told Ellie as I stroked her face. I was glad I wasn't stuck in Forks forever. There were some things I just had to come home to get.

"I was so scared," she started to sob, "I didn't know what was wrong with you or and you were asleep for so long."

"It's ok," I comforted her as the drugs began to take hold again. "I'm fine. And I have so much to tell you about." She smiled at me wearily.

Back in Forks I was also under the strong influence of morphine and Jacob spent the best part of an hour asking me questions to laugh at my response. He was worried about me though. I could tell me by way his brow creased in worry when the Doctor pushed my fingers back into their sockets. I could feel the pain but I was too drugged to react to it.

Instead I looked at Jacob and drooled slightly. When my mum arrived at the hospital I was in the out patients room waiting for some of the morphine to rub off so mum could take me home. My fingers were splinted together and the doctor said we would have to see how they healed before we considered surgery on them.

Jacob came home with us and he helped mum get me up the stairs to my bedroom. He was already becoming stronger. In my room mum pushed Jacob out the door while she helped me into my sweat pants and old t-shirt.

"Can Jacob lie down with me?" I asked her groggily.

She raised an eyebrow and pursed her lips. 'You two are just friends right?"

"At this stage," I giggled. "And it's not like we can do anything."

"I'll send him in," she said as she tucked me into bed. My eyes fell shut immediately but I felt him slide under the covers beside me and carefully pull me around so that his arm was behind my head and my body lay against his chest. He wasn't warm yet. I fell asleep to the rhythm of his heart beat.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter Twelve – Confession.

Over the weeks that followed my encounter with Victoria I spent the time that I wasn't at school with Jacob and on the rare occasion with Bella. On the occasion that I managed to see her it was only because I decided to arrive at her house unannounced and Edward decided not to come over because I was there. Charlie was always ecstatic to see me. He blamed Edward for Bella leaving and even though Bella claimed that Edward brought her home Charlie was still not impressed. Whenever I prodded Bella for more information about that night she just shrugged and told me it was a misunderstanding but I saw the way she shuddered slightly. I knew that I would soon have to tell Carlisle about what I knew but I was continually putting it off with the excuse that I had to speak with him alone, even though I had a few opportunities at the hospital while he was doing the follow up on my hand. My hand didn't need operating on. Luckily the dislocations were clean and there wasn't any muscle damage. My fingers were still strapped and I couldn't move them yet but it was expected that they would get full movement back.

Most weekends either Jacob slept at my house – on the lounge – or I slept at his house in the spare room. We spent every moment together but neither of us had yet made a move to advance the friendship. Instead we lived in a strange territory between the two.

In Hudson I was bed ridden in hospital and my doctor advised me that I would be there for at least another two months. There was a steel rod in my leg to hold my femur together and I would have a long and slow recovery process. It made me wonder if the whole reason I dreamt of Forks was because of this. I would have gone mad being bed ridden during the day if I wasn't able to walk around at night.

My mum walked into my room where I was doing some unsuccessful last minute study for the calculus exam on Monday. I was too distracted by Jacob who had made a vague excuse to go home when he was supposed to be sleeping over.

"Leighton..." she cooed and I didn't look up at her. She had been hassling me all morning about going to the Prom that night. She seemed to find it personally insulting that I didn't want to go. "Will you look at me?" she demanded.

I looked up dubiously. She was holding a long black dress and smiling at me ecstatically.

"I'm not going," I reminded her.

"Yes. You are going." She told me. "I went and brought this dress just for the occasion."

I opened my mouth to object but she cut me off. "I don't care if you don't have a date or that you went to the spring fling or that you're not even sure your friends would recognise you any more. You are going to the Prom. You will go and get a picture underneath some crappy balloon arch and then you can stay or you can come home. I don't care."

"Fine," I snapped and her face fell. I had hurt her feelings. "I'm sorry." I apologised. I was really more annoyed at Jacob then her. I didn't want to go to Prom because I would have rather spent the night with him but now that he wasn't here why couldn't I go to the prom.

"The dress is beautiful mum," I complimented. She beamed.

"Well try it on," she urged. It was a simple long black dress with a plunging neck line and an open back. It hugged every contour of my body. It couldn't believe my mum brought it for me. Usually she was far more conservative then that. Mum did my make up again. She took it as a personal offence to her mothering skills that I didn't know the difference between a concealer and a foundation. She did my eyes in smoky black and she straightened my hair until it fell perfectly. Overall the look seemed far too sexy for a high school prom.

"Is this too much?" I asked her.

"No. You look beautiful." She told me, not missing a beat.

"I don't even know who is going..." I tried one last excuse to get out of it. Mum didn't buy any of it.

"I spoke to Charlie this afternoon and he told me Bella is going," she told me. _That's right,_ I thought to myself, _the Cullens go to the prom._ And suddenly I knew that I had the perfect time to tell Carlisle and no more excuses. All of the Cullen's would be out except for Dr. Cullen and maybe Esme. I could even use the prom as an excuse to leave as soon as I said everything I needed too.

"Do you mind if I leave early?" I asked mum. My heart was beating loudly in my chest.

"Sure. Are you going to go and see Bella?" she offered me an excuse.

"Yeah," I agreed and I grabbed my keys to the beetle and hurried off. I sort of knew the way to the Cullens house but I took several wrong turns before I found the concealed turn off. Their house was magnificent and I felt my eyes widen as I took in its beauty.

As I reached the front porch the door opened before I knock. Dr. Cullen smiled at me warmly.

"Leighton," he greeted. He was very good looking. His golden eyes flickered warmly. "Is everything ok?"

"Yes Dr. Cullen." I felt my throat grow tight. "I was wondering if I could speak to you for a moment."

His eyes flicked over my attire. "I'm about to go to the prom," I explained.

"Oh yes," Carlisle smiled. "My children have just left for that."

I smiled at him as he waved me inside the house. I took a seat in the large white lounge room. It was so open and airy.

"What did you want to talk about?" he asked me. I noticed that Esme was not anywhere to be seen.

"I – Um – actually," I spluttered but Carlisle only looked at me encouragingly. "I don't know where to start," I admitted.

"Maybe at the beginning," suggested Carlisle and I smiled. That seemed logical.

"Before I moved to Forks I had a dream," I told him. I had already decided that this would be my reason for how I knew the things that I knew. I thought it sounded slightly more plausible then 'you are all actually characters in a novel'. "And it wasn't your ordinary type of dream."

Carlisle nodded at me encouragingly.

"I dreamt about you actually – and your family." I was spluttering now. I didn't know what to say. Carlisle came to my rescue.

"You were very kind to do what you did with Victoria," he said calmly and I stared at him in shock. "My family are forever grateful that you didn't tell her the things she wanted to know." I nodded, digesting what he was telling me.

"How did you know?" I asked.

"Alice had a vision of it. But Edward had thought that you knew more than you were letting on since your first day." I nodded.

"I can't tell you everything I know," I told him quickly. "But I promise I won't tell anyone your secret and I will try my best to help you when I can. If I could just tell you everything I knew then I would but there are dangers – with Bella particularly – and if Edward knew them it would alter the future so much that my vision wouldn't help anyone." The words were flowing out now.

"I understand," Carlisle nodded, "We can't ask any more of you then what you are doing for us now. It is extraordinary that you have this gift as a human."

I nodded. Extra ordinary. He had that right.

"There is just one thing," I said quietly, "And I know it is a lot to ask."

"Ask anyway," Carlisle said kindly, "It might not be a lot considering that you had two fingers broken to keep our secrets."

I nodded. I had never thought of that way. "I would really appreciate it if Edward didn't know the extent of my knowledge. I would like for him to remain unaware of how much I know of his future with Bella. For now anyway."

Carlisle nodded. "What is the extent of your knowledge?"

"I know in detail what happens up until a few months after graduation," That was when the last book ended. But I assumed that there wasn't much drama going on after that. There was enough drama in that time period the last someone who lives forever.

Carlisle pursed his perfect lips. "That's quite amazing,"

"You can tell everyone I know," I told him. I was ready for that truth to be out. "I'd like to tell Bella though."

"Agreed," said Carlisle. We chatted for a few more minutes until I couldn't leave going to the prom any longer.

"Have a nice night, Leighton" Carlisle farewelled me at the door. "You look most beautiful,"

I blushed deeply at his compliment.

The prom was just as mum had predicted – complete with a balloon arch. I felt slightly embarrassed as I entered the school gym alone. It felt like everyone turned to look at me. Of course they weren't – they were all watching the three couples that were twirling effortlessly around the dance floor. Even I had to suppress my gasp at their beauty. Bella probably didn't know it but she blended in perfectly beside Edward.

In the next second all I could see was black as a pair of large, slightly warm hands slid over my eyes.

"Jacob?" I said excitedly and he chuckled throatily. I turned around. He was dressed in a black tuxedo. "Jacob!" I exclaimed, more excited now. "Did my mum put you up to this?"

"No, actually." He looked slightly embarrassed. "This," he gestured to the suit. "Was my idea. But we had to meet at prom for another reason." He dropped his gaze as he looked over at Bella. I did my best to look confused but I knew he was here to do Billy's bidding.

"Go and see her," I encouraged and he looked apologetic.

"It's for Billy," he explained.

"Go," I told him and he jogged off across the dance floor. Edward glared at him as he interrupted his dance with Bella but he spotted me across that room and in an instant he was by my side as we watched Jacob and Bella dance.

"Alice told us that you talked to Carlisle tonight," he told me in his hard, velvet voice.

"Yes," I breathed. I still found Edward intimidating.

"I'm glad that Bella will have someone she can talk to," he told me genuinely and I felt uncomfortable under his intense gaze. "Maybe we could meet tomorrow and we can explain to Bella."

"I don't really know what is going on to explain it," I admitted.

"I know how you feel," he told me and I swore I could hear some sadness in his musical voice.

"I'll meet you at Bella's in the morning," it was an agreement not a question and in an instant he was back at Bella's side as the song finished. Jacob looked uncomfortable when he returned to me.

"You look really nice tonight," he told me. I laughed and he grinned back.

"I was going to say it earlier," he told me. "But I was so annoyed that Billy made me do that. At least I get that master cylinder."

"Yeah. And maybe you will get your permit soon."

"Hey. I'm still more mature then you." I laughed at this remark. I noticed that Jacob was now a foot taller then me in my heels. Why hadn't I noticed that he had grown so much?

"How tall are you now?" I asked him,

"6'2," he said proudly. "Now do you want to get out of here?"

I took one last look around the gym and nodded enthusiastically. "Where are we going?" I asked as Jacob laced his fingers in mine and led me to my car.

"It's a secret," he told me as he hopped into the driver's seat.

"You're going to get arrested before you even get your permit," I told him seriously and he chuckled. His voice was getting deeper too.

"Charlie won't arrest me," he told me and I knew that was true. Charlie loved Jacob and the fact that I spent so much time with Jacob only endeared me further to Charlie.

After a small drive we arrived out the front of my house. I looked at Jacob dubiously.

"This is your surprise?" I asked him.

"Well sort of," he let his voice trail off and that made me all the more curious.

"Is my mum in on this?" I demanded.

"Yeah. I asked her for her help." He admitted.

He rushed around to the passenger side and opened the door for me. His sudden growth spurt had not helped his coordination and he hit himself with the car door. He cursed at this and looked embarrassed. He seemed edgy. Not quite himself.

"Are you alright Jake?" I asked him as I got out of the car.

"I'm fine," he smiled at me unconvincingly while he looked around nervously.

"Is my mum inside?" I asked as I looked around for her car. It wasn't parked anywhere.

"She's gone out," Jacob tried to say this casually but his smile told me this was all planned.

"Really?"

"Yep. Would you like to come inside?" Jacob asked as he pulled a black strip of material from his pocket. A smile pulled on his lips. "But you'll have to trust me completely and go blind folded."

"Blind folded?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Trust me?" Jacob asked and he held out the blind fold. I grabbed it from his hands and he helped me tie it up so that I couldn't see anything.

"I don't know what you need to stop me from seeing." I told him, "This is my own house."

"Could you just go with me on this?" Jacob ask incredulously, "You always fight every single thing. Could you just go with this?"

I huffed as he wrapped his hand around mine and led me into the house. He carefully guided me through the kitchen and out into the back yard. I could feel the air turn cold so I knew we were outside again.

"What is this about Jacob?"

"Fine" Jacob snapped and he pulled my blind fold off. I gasped. In the middle of the backyard was a small white marquee which I was sure wasn't there earlier. The trees and marquee were covered in thousand of glittering faerie lights. "I wanted to surprise you," he said quietly and he looked at the ground, not meeting my eyes.

I was speechless. There was some soft music playing from inside the marquee.

"Oh Jake," I whispered. This was the single sweetest act anyone had ever done for me in any world. "Did you do all this?"

"Your mum actually helped me with a lot of us," he paused for a second. "She helped with most of it actually. I only really got dressed in the suit." He shrugged. "It looks great, though."

I laughed. It was the thought that counted. "Why though Jake?" I asked and Jacob dropped his gaze to the ground again. If I didn't know better I would have thought he was blushing.

"Do you want to dance with me?" he asked and gestured towards the marquee.

He grabbed my hand and pulled me inside. The faerie lights looked like stars in the night sky.

"My mum used to tell me that stars were little holes in heaven," I told Jake as I wrapped my arms around his neck. He hesitated and then put his arms around my waist. I felt my skin tingle where he touched my bare back. My stomach was turning over. "She said they were the people that we loved telling us they were happy."

"That's nice," said Jacob and I could tell that he was looking at me closely. I couldn't turn my face towards him. I suddenly felt so nervous my palms started to sweat.

"So are you going to tell me what this is about or keep ignoring my question?" I asked him and I heard him gulp.

"Um. I'm not good at this," he said quietly and I could here his voice shaking slightly.

"You don't have –"

"Let me finish please," he asked and I stoped talking. There was a lump in my throat. "I didn't know how to do this so I asked your mum for help. This wasn't exactly what I had in mind but it's nice." He breathed out slowly and I could feel his warm breath on my neck. It made me get goose bumps. "I've never felt this way about anyone and I didn't really know what to do about it and I don't know if you feel the same." He reached out and gently moved my chin so that I was looking at him.

I knew what he was saying. He was telling me what I had always wanted him to say to me, ever since I broke down at La Push. But at the same time as it was my wildest dream it was also my worst nightmare. The Bella, Edward and Jacob love triangle was now a square.

_Be happy. _It was Eleanor's voice in my head. _He's not real_, I thought back at it but I was instantly counter argued with a quote that had stopped me in my tracks as I read it in Hudson. I was still in hospital and to pass the time Eleanor had brought me the Harry Potter book I had started but hadn't yet finished. It was the last in the series and my favourite.

Eleanor had defaced my book by highlighting a conversation between Harry and Dumbledore at the end of the second last chapter.

"_Tell me one last thing," said Harry. "Is this real? Or has this been happening inside my head?" _

_Dumbledore beamed at him, and his voice sounded loud and strong in Harry's ears even though the bright was descending again, obscuring his figure. _

"_Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?" _

"Jake," I whispered and his dark eyes were searching mine. I reached up and ran my finger down his nose. He closed his eyes and groaned slightly. My fingers reached his lips which parted slightly. His breathing was getting heavier. My heart felt like it was about to beat out of my chest. "I feel the same about you too,"

It was out there now. I had taken the plunge. Whatever was going to happen from now on was just going to have to come. We would figure it out together. A smile pulled across his lips and he lent in closer to me. I couldn't fight the smile as he lent in so close I could see each of individual lash around his eyes. Our noses grazed slightly and his warm lips brushed mine. They were hesitant at first but soon they were moving frantically against mine. I reached up and laced my fingers in his hair and he pulled me closer to him. His tongue grazed against mine. He tasted like the fresh air. Suddenly he pulled away from me, leaving me gasping for breath.

"Does this mean that you're my girlfriend now?" he asked and I laughed.

"I think so,"

"Great. I'll tell your mum the faerie lights worked a treat then," he smiled at me widely as he pulled me closer to him again. His lips found mine and I knew that this must be the reason I was here. If I was going to save anyone it was going to be him.

* * *

**A/N: Wow. The end! I have to say I am impressed because this is the first piece of writing that I have ever actually finished. But do not be sad as although my take on 'Twilight' is finished I don't think I'm quite finished with Leighton yet. **

**Thank you so much for your dedicated reading and reviewing. I wrote this story for me but I posted here for you and you've made the journey so much more worth while (and quicker I imagine! I've never been so sleep deprived.)**

**So I will post up the link to the sequel as a new chapter in this story when I have it up but if you would like me to send you a private message of the link just review me asking so and I would be more than happy to do so for anyone who would like to continue reading this crazy fan fic I started. Which I think we all should as there are werewolves in the next one! Mmmm. **

**Now I think that the things we enjoy are worth more when we pass them on to other people to enjoy so my favourite fan fic on this site (Besides mine!) is this one: **

**.net/s/4650839/1/**

**Go check it out it's a great Team Jacob fic called Breathe Again.**

**And if you enjoyed mine feel free to pass the link on to anyone you think might enjoy it! **

**Catch you all next time, **

**Lorrae!**


	13. Chapter 13

Sequel 'Full Moon" up and running!

Hi everyone so the sequel "Full Moon" (Yeah. I wasn't very creative with the title!) is now posted! So I hope to see you there!

The story is Full Moon by yesterdayslorrae.


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